


Absolved; Rogue Book Two.

by SonjaLeigh



Series: Rogue; A Naruto Fanfiction [2]
Category: Kakashi - Fandom, Naruto
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-18 12:46:43
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 37
Words: 50,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29118462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SonjaLeigh/pseuds/SonjaLeigh
Summary: Three years later, and Kairi cannot get the silver haired leaf shinobi out of her head. The threats are growing against her two beloved Villages, she has to navigate the growing relationship with the Copy Ninja of Konoha and protect her own family.
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Rogue; A Naruto Fanfiction [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1962904
Kudos: 3
Collections: Kakashi





	1. Prelude

**  
**  
_Dear Lady Kairi of Sunagakure.._

**_Not a day has gone by where your absence hasn't weighed heavily on myself and your friends here. The village seems less vibrant without you._ **

Kakashi groaned, facepalming himself before he crumpled up the paper he'd been writing on and tossed it into the corner with the rest. Frustration was taking over as these letters began to sound less and less like himself. He let out a huff of air, grabbed another paper and began again.

_**Kairi.** _

_**I don't know how I can write this without breaking, or how I can stop myself from taking over.** _

_**I am sorry for the way we left things, it feels unfinished to me. When I last saw you I wasn't myself, that darkness I know you saw inside me had taken over. It is hard to explain this when I never told you the story of how Rin died. I never told you how her death was my fault.** _

_**When I saw my chidori reflected in your eyes, it brought it all back.** _

_**Kairi I have been having nightmares about your death since that night. I have failed so many, I couldn't bring myself to put you in danger. Everyone I have ever cared about has died, and I found myself caring about you more everyday we spent together.** _

He sighed, taking a moment to review what he had just written. Frustrated with himself he turned to look at the Sunagakure headband he'd found in the empty apartment when he'd gone to explain himself. She'd left without saying goodbye. He shouldn't be surprised, he knew she was leaving. Kakashi set the headband back down and turned his eyes back to the paper in front of him, the last one from the package he'd bought earlier that day.

**_I miss you in ways I don't even miss my parents. I need you to know that the arrangement your father had with the Third has never meant anything to me. I should have told you earlier, but I didn't think it would matter now. I guess I was wrong about that. I had no idea he would choose me, I probably would have refused it. I have no wish to take your village from you._ **

He slumped his face against his desk, unable to stop feeling completely stupid long enough to continue. He picked up the paper, folding it neatly and tucking it into a drawer beside his bed where it rested on a stack of letters he would never send. He turned to the corner of the room where the rest of the package lay, scribbled out and crumpled.

Grabbing the bin from beneath his desk, he scooped up the rejects and stuffed them inside, followed by a fireball jutsu. He sat back on his bed and watched as the fire engulfed the words he wished he could have said. He watched as the smoke gently billowed towards his window, out into the world.

A soft knock pulled him out of his moping, and he responded by calling out that the door was open.

It creaked open a little bit and a pair of red eyes stared in at him, followed by a familiar voice. "We are going out to dinner, would you like to come?"

"No." Kakashi said with a sigh, turning so he could lay down on his bed. He stared up at the pictures he had above his bed, his teams.

Kurenai groaned, kicking his door all the way open. "We figured you would say that."

Kakashi didn't even have time to ask who 'we' was -not that he needed to.- Asuma had barreled into the room and grabbed him off his bed, slinging the copy ninja over his shoulder as if he were little more than a sack of flour. "C'mon big guy, no more hiding in this depression den."

Kakashi let himself be dead weight over Asuma's body. "Don't smoke in my room."

"You have been locked in here all week." Kurenai pouted at him as she followed Asuma down the stairs that lead to the lobby.

"I hate you guys."

"We love you too, Kakashi." Gai came into view as he was carried through the door and onto the streets, of course he would be a part of this kidnapping.

Asuma didn't let him down until they were safely inside one of the restaurants in town. He dropped him in a booth and then along with Kurenai proceeded to sit down and block him in. Across from them was Gai, along with Shikamaru and Temari.

Kakashi looked wearily at Kairi's sister, wondering if she was going to yell at him again and then decided there were better things to stare at outside the window.

Food was brought to the table despite him refusing to order, and a bowl of Udon was placed in front of him. He stared down at the toppings, grilled meats, spring onions, and an egg. He grabbed his chopsticks, but looked up to see Gai watching him excitedly. His eye trailed along the table where he noticed everyone was watching him. He groaned, dropping his chopsticks again.

"Oh for... " Temari huffed, crossing her arms. "just get over it already."

"Don't start." Shikamaru urged her, but she growled at him to shut up.

"Quit following her like a lost puppy dog and just talk to her." The blonde glared across the table at him.

Kakashi groaned and gave a pointed glare at Asuma, who was glaring at Shikamaru, who was glaring at Temari. Of course it had made it through the grapevine that he was checking up on Kairi. He'd sent Bisuke out to watch her, and when she had started taking Anbu missions again.. Whenever she was sent somewhere especially dangerous, Kakashi had made sure he was close by.

He had to admit though, Temari had gone from threatening him to stay away from her sister, to demanding he talk to her. He turned his eyes back to her, raising an eyebrow.

"Ugh, it's not like I don't hear you guys talking.. I know you never wanted to be a Kage."

"Temari." Shikamaru gave her a warning growl and she sat back in her seat, pressing her lips together.

"Can I go home now?" Kakashi plead, looking to Kurenai.

"No." Gai answered before Kurenai could feel bad for their friend.

"Someone get the copy ninja some sake!" Asuma barked out, waving to a nearby server.

Kakashi turned back to the window and let out a defeated huff of air. It sprayed against the glass, and in the condensation he wrote **HELP.**


	2. Home. -Part 1, the Kazekage.-

The moon.. It still called to something inside of me the way it had when I'd been lost and alone. Sometimes if I stared at it long enough, as I was now.. I thought I could see her dancing, the woman trapped inside. I wanted to dance with her, and with my mother wherever she was.

"We need to advance before they regroup."

I tore my eyes away from the haunting milky glow, turning them instead to my violet haired teammate and his brawny accomplice. "If I have to save your asses one more time on this mission.."

"Calm down, Lady Kairi." Sora -the leaner of the two- growled to me. "If we get them now while they aren't paying attention we will be home by the afternoon."

I groaned slightly, rushing in hadn't gotten us anything good so far. I gave a reluctant nod and the three of us jumped out from the fallen tree we had crouched behind and ran into battle with the remainder of the Iwagakure forces.

\--

"I told you." Sora gloated as we approached the pass that lead back into Sunagakure.

The brainless brawn of our team, Kuru let out a roar of laughter as he smacked Sora across the back with one of his gigantic arms. "So that wasn't you cowering in that Iron sphere while Lady Kairi fought off those last three nin?"

"Shut up."

I couldn't keep the grin off of my face as I saw Sora's massive ego visibly shrink as he regained his footing after Kuru had nearly knocked him over.

"Coming to the Oasis?" Sora asked in my direction, already knowing the answer.

"Some other time." I lied, standing inside the village gates and watching them start off towards the bar.

"It wouldn't hurt to get to know us outside of work, Lady Kairi." Kuru gently suggested.

I thought of the way Ryu died, the betrayal I'd been dealt by Hex and Kakashi and shook my head.

I saw the gentle giants shoulders slump a bit as Sora pulled him off towards the bar. Once they were out of sight I took a deep breath of the moistureless air and let out a sigh.

Home again, if you could call it that. Three years had passed since I'd returned to Sunagakure and still I was gazed upon with suspicion and disappointment by the villagers. I couldn't blame them though, after all that had happened I'd never given any effort to clear my name or to get close to anyone outside of my family -which included Baki-.

I pulled down the Anbu veil that had covered the lower half of my face and made my way through the streets towards the home I shared with my siblings and our guardian.

"Good to see Sora hasn't gotten you killed yet." Baki's voice greeted me from where he was leaning against the door frame, he was always here waiting for me when I got back from a mission.

"I want a new team." I shrugged as I passed him and entered the house.

"That's the fifth one you've had." He grumbled from behind me, pulling the door closed. "You are running low on options."

"I had to come to the rescue too much this time."

"You always do." I heard the smile in his voice before he took the firm, _leader of the village Anbu_ tone with me. "You cannot jeopardize missions like that."

I gritted my teeth together, turning to face him as I forced a sweet smile. "Those who would abandon their friends are worse than scum."

Baki grinned and rolled his eyes as he pulled me into a tight hug. "Remind me to beat whoever taught you that.."

I gave a half hearted laugh, pushing down the thoughts of the silver haired shinobi.

"Besides, you won't let anyone be your friend." Baki let me go and led me towards the kitchen where I knew he had a hot meal waiting for me, as he always did.

"Friends cause trouble." I shrugged lightly, then smiled brightly as I saw my brothers.

Gaara was standing at the entryway to the kitchen, his Kazekage hat placed on the top of his head as he stared at himself in the mirror. My heart swelled with pride as I watched him, remembering the day of celebration when he'd been chosen. He had proven all of us wrong, the monster was now cherished here.

Kankuro sat at the table with his Kuroari puppet laid out in pieces in front of him as he worked on it, perfecting it as he always was. He looked up as I entered the room and gave me a sly grin. "Hey little sister."

I no longer saw Rasa in Kankuro's face, we had bonded over the last two years and now to me, his face was his own. "I'm older than you." I reminded him, picking up my soup bowl from the table and tipping it to my mouth to savour the broth.

Kankuro shook his head and put down his tools so he could stand up and cross the room to me. "You're littler than me."

I glared up at him, and then felt myself lift off the ground as Gaara's sand added some height to me so that I was eye to eye with Kro.

"You were saying?" The crimson haired teen asked as he sat at the table next to my chair.

"Fuck off, that's not fair." Kankuro growled as he turned away and went back to working on his puppet.

I let out a laugh and sat down with my soup. "Where is Tem?"

"She's in Konohagakure." Baki sat down as well, leaning his chair back so he could stretch out. I smiled to him, holding up my bowl and bowing my head as a thank you.

"Where you will be picking her up." Gaara added, turning those stunning eyes to me.

I furrowed my brow slightly, setting my soup back down on the table. "I have another mission." I lied.

"It's your turn Kairi! I am sick of going there." Kankuro complained.

"What happened to that girlfriend you had there?" I asked, wiggling my eyebrows slightly. "The one from the restaurant."

He glared at me from across the table and then huffed "She hates me."

"They all hate you." Gaara shrugged, picking up my spoon and stealing a mouthful of my soup.

"Enough." Baki ordered, sitting upright now. "No more missions Kairi, either you're going to pick up your sister tomorrow or you are coming with me."

"Where?" Kankuro and I asked together.

"To elder Hanami"

Kankuro let out a chuckle as I stared at Baki in disbelief "The matchmakers?"

"Kai, you're almost twenty now.." Baki started with the speech I'd heard so many times since my birthday. "Neither of your parents would have wanted you to be a lonely Anbu your whole life.. You're the eldest daughter of the Fourth Kazekage"

"And the bachelorette sister of the Fifth Kazekage." I finished his sentence, rolling my eyes as I pushed my bowl to Gaara, no longer hungry.

Baki sighed and rubbed his forehead. "You need to find a suitable husband."

I groaned, letting my face hit the table and then muttered against the wood. "I am going to get Temari."

"Then we can visit elder Hanami when you return."

I glared at Baki, as much as I loved and respected the man.. I really wanted to fight him right now. "Find someone who can beat all four of us, and then I'll think about marrying him." I growled at Baki.

He gave me an amused laugh and shook his head as I stood up and headed off towards my bedroom.

It was still hard for me to be in this room, all the memories of being locked in the dark as a child had tainted it somehow. Usually when I wasn't on a mission I'd stay in Temari's room but she had been in the Leaf a lot, planning the upcoming chunin exams with Shikamaru. I sighed as I flicked on the light inside my door, the overhead and the one beside my bed before falling face first onto the plush, down filled mattress. I hadn't slept in days and it was quickly catching up to me as I pulled my white Teddy bear close to my chest and shut my eyes.

It felt like I'd only been sleeping moments when the caw of a crow startled me awake. I kept my eyes closed, listening in the dark for the sound of the bird. It had been a while since he visited, and he'd never gotten in the house before. I had to wonder how he had achieved that.

I peeked when I didn't hear a sound, wondering if I imagined the bird but the shadow in front of me caused me to shut my eye again quickly. That earned me a light peck on the forehead. I groaned, and opened my eyes to glare into that sharingan.


	3. Nightmares.

  
I opened my eyes again, expecting to see Itachi inside the genjutsu version of my village. Instead though, I found myself in pitch darkness. My hands shook at my sides and I balled them into fists, trying to chase away the fear.

"Itachi?" I called into the black, too afraid to move.

I was not answered by his voice, but by a soft humming sound. The sound was complemented by a glow of white blue light in front of me. As it brightened, I saw the source of it, the little bear my mother had given me. The unnatural hum turned to the tune I almost remembered, and was joined by singing.. My mothers singing.

_**"Sleep now, ocean of mine. Lost in the desert, slave to the sands of time. I will protect you, I will guide you through. Lost in the desert, until you find something new."** _

My body quaked with emotions, I felt a tear slip down my cheek as that old familiar longing groaned inside me. It had been so long that I had forgotten the lullaby she once sang for me, and I knew it was mine because she had chosen my name. She once called me her Ocean because she felt like I had saved her from the sand. "Mommy?"

Behind the bear I could just make out the shadowy silhouette of a woman, of Karura. "I need to show you something, sweet girl."

Before I could ask what she meant, the world slipped from beneath my feet and I was falling. I let out a scream, grabbing for anything I could see but nothing held me. I felt like I was falling for minutes until my body rocked against something solid, yet soft in a way.

"Kairi!" The familiar velvet voice was rushed, laced with concern.

"Itachi?" I asked, confused as I shoved myself out of his arms. "Why would you do this to me?" I sobbed out. I knew he could be cruel, but he hadn't been to me. To bring my mother into a genjutsu was beyond the kind of torture I'd imagined from him.

"Do this to you?" He questioned, gazing up above me and then back at me. "I warned you not to try and make that sand of yours float. It isn't the same as Gaara's, minerals are heavy."

I stared at him, glaring at the akatsuki cloak he wore. "You promised not to talk about him." When Itachi had first started trapping me in these genjutsu, he had pointed out a bond between us. We both refused orders to kill our little brothers, though mine was out of love and his was out of self preservation. I had been disgusted about it, and the only way he could get me to speak to him was to promise me he wouldn't bring up Gaara again.

Itachi raised his eyebrows, his face as confused as my own.

"I'm sick of this game, release me." I growled, regretting ever opening my eyes to look at that stupid crow.

"Game.. Release you.. What?" He looked shocked and hurt.

"Let me out of your genjutsu!" I demanded of him, shoving hard at his chest.

"Kai... I swore to you that I wouldn't put you under another Genjutsu.."

I glared at him, he'd made no such promise to me. He seemed to enjoy catching me off guard with his sharingan and forcing me to visit with him. It had been tense, but never before had he been this sick.

"Itachi my man, is everything alright down there?" Another male voice called from somewhere up the cave system we seemed to be in.

"Everything is fine Deidara." Itachi called back, his eyes still on me.

Apparently ignoring the assurance, a blond man made his way down to us. He was wearing an akatsuki cloak just like Itachi's and he had a crossed out Iwagakure headband just barely visible beneath where his fringe swooped into his face. "Not getting cold feet are you?"

I tilted my head as I stared at the other man leaning now against the rock walls. Itachi had never shown me another Asatsuki before, nobody else had ever appeared in our secret visits.

"She's not." Itachi growled, strangely defensive.

Deidara tilted his head, fixing those pale blue eyes on me with a strange look of amusement. "Well, I wouldn't blame you, Kairi. You are going after your brother."

I raised my eyebrows in shock, then glared at him. There was no way in hell, not even in a genjutsu that I would assist them in taking Gaara. I went to respond but when I did my words were not my own. An uncharacteristic dark laugh escaped me **"are you jealous, bomb boy? That Itachi and I will be the ones to seize the great sand demon?"** _what the hell?_

Itachi looked back at me, pride masking the pain in his eyes. He closed the distance between us, reaching out to adjust a cloak I was wearing. I looked down in shock as I saw him pulling the cloud pattern cloak closer around my shoulders. I wanted to shove him away from me as he dropped his arm around my shoulders, squaring off a glare at Deidara, but I couldn't seem to make myself move. "I told you everything is fine, Deidara."

The blond gave a huff that lifted his hair from his eyes for a second and then pointed his nose upwards before walking away.

The room shifted and spun, and I whirled until I was once again staring into those Sharingan. We were outside now, dusk set over the desert and Itachi stared at me with concern in his face. "I can go by myself Kairi, you don't need to do this."

"What better way to draw Gaara out of the village?" A female voice answered him, a voice that made my heart drop.

Itachi moved away from me and left me staring at Hex, she looked menacing in her red and black cloak, the collar of it pulled up so that her black eyes peered out from beneath it. "Isn't that right, _little sister?_ "

My head nodded, but not of my own accord as I unwillingly spoke again. **"Gaara deserved a world of love, but he has become a monster."** _No! No, he still deserves love!_ **"He can repay the debt he's collected by ensuring that everyone else can live on in the dream."** _Stop! I LOVE HIM!_

Hex gave me an approving nod, and then I saw a smile touch her eyes. "Shukaku is dangerous, Itachi.. Make sure you take care of our girl."

Itachi nodded, pressing a lingering kiss to my temple before he took my hand and lead me off towards the village. "Remember, you want to come home.." He said as he pulled off my cloak, folding it over his arm. "You realised what we are planning to do, and you have come back to warn and protect him."

I felt myself nod, and then turn to Itachi. He tilted his head as he gazed at me, that strong look of pain in his eyes again. **"What is it that you're hiding from us?"** My voice asked him.

"I just.." He sighed softly. "You know I am loyal.. I just didn't think I would ever see you here, helping us get your little brother."

 **"The world makes Monsters of us all.."** I repeated the words he'd said to me so long ago, when he'd found me broken down and beaten in the desert. A memory came back to me that wasn't my own, not the way that day had gone. Instead of carrying me home to my village, the rogue Uchiha had convinced me to join his organization.

My body leaned into his, as much as I was fighting against it. He smiled a little and our lips met, the kiss lit fires inside the way it had been when I had kissed Kakashi and I screamed and raged inside my own head.

"Time to go home, Kairi." Itachi mused when he pulled back from the kiss.

My apparent partner left me outside the pass and the gates of Sunagakure. I started crying, this felt like it was actually me. The gates opened and Baki stood in front of me, his arms crossed and hatred on his face. "What the hell are you doing here."

_Kill me Baki, please kill me._

**"Baki.."** My voice unwillingly whimpered. **"Please help me.. I need to see Gaara, they are coming tonight! Please I need to save him."**

_Don't listen to her Baki! Kill me!_

Baki seemed to struggle with himself for a moment, his face softening as he remembered the way he'd raised me. The look disappeared in an instant as he fixed a glare on me, I couldn't help but feel triumph. _Yes Baki, yes.._ "You are not welcome here, leave before I kill you."

I heard the faint sound of a kunai rushing through wind and then shooting pain as it pierced my shoulder. I screamed out, my body screamed out. We dropped to the ground, grasping at the shoulder where the kunai had hit.

"Traitor!" Itachi called from above us.

Baki rushed to my side, hunkering his body over mine as he got me inside the gates, barking at the guards to secure the village and prepare for an attack. I felt a wicked grin slip over my face, felt the triumph of a plan working out.

"Get her to the Kazekage!"

 _NO_!

Gaara was sitting behind my father's sandstone desk at the council hall when I was lead to him. My heart warmed at the sight of his face, and so did the heart of whoever possessed my body, I felt it.

"Kairi?" His question was a half growl as it left his lips.

 _Gaara will kill me._ I was smiling on the inside, remembering the day he'd found me in Kankuro and Temari's room in the Leaf village.

 **"Gaara, I escaped.. They are coming, please we need to go. I am so sorry, I didn't understand before what they were going to do."**  
  
I growled wickedly at these lies, wishing I could get control back of my body.

The timeline was off, Gaara had never thought he killed me.. I really had just abandoned him and my village to join the people who wanted to take him.

His eyes softened as he stared, but then they turned to that wicked, twisted glare I'd seen before. _FINALLY!_ I saw the sand snake up out of the goard on his back and internally cheered him on.

I was suddenly grabbed and shoved to the side, I looked up to see Itachi standing above me, his sharingan fixed on Gaara's wide blue eyes. The sand that had been preparing for its attack hung in the air, unmoving, Gaara was frozen in place.

Whoever else was inside my body smirked, taking Itachi's hand as he reached out to us and got up off the ground. She paced over to where Gaara stood and slowly brushed some hair out of his eyes. I felt her regret, her pain. I was begging inside for her to change her mind, to let him go. **"What now?"** She asked, not bothering to look at Itachi.

"Now we take him back to Pein, and we extract the beast."

_THAT WILL KILL HIM. STOP, DON'T TOUCH HIM, LET HIM GO! PLEASE, I LOVE HIM.. WE LOVE HIM. DON'T HURT HIM._

I felt the world disappear beneath my feet again and I fell into nothing.

This time I landed on my bed, myself now. I was sobbing, crying so hard that my body shook as I pulled that teddy tight against my chest and curled into a ball.

This time when I heard the caw of the crow, I raised my hand, raising a shell of minerals with it and closed my fist. The iron sand tomb closed in on it, and I squeezed with everything I had in me. However when I rolled over to look, letting the iron fall away.. All that was left was a single, ruffled feather.  
  
That girl had been me, a me that the sands of time had shaped differently. It made me sick to my stomach to think that there was some version of me, something inside of me that would have joined the Akatsuki if things had played out differently.... I could never let that happen.


	4. Precious.

  
  
  


I woke up on my own the next morning, still rocked by the nightmare I'd had the night before. I gazed at the Teddy bear in my arms and then pushed it away from my body and got myself out of bed. Knowing I had to travel today I dressed appropriately, a simple back, short jumpsuit over a netted bodysuit that ended above my elbows and knees.

I tied my Sunagakure headband around my forehead, letting the strands of hair that were too short to fit into my ponytail hang over it. I then reached for the Konohagakure headband Kakashi had given me before we left for our first mission together. I shut my eyes, picturing the way his hair had hung in his eyes when he'd taken it off. He could have given me the one he'd replaced it with, but instead had given me his own. I shook the memories away and tied this one around my neck.

The morning when I had left the Leaf village with my siblings, Tsunade had come to see us off. She explained to me, that since I was technically a part of both villages that she would like me to act as ambassador on her behalf. She had told me she didn't expect me to put her wishes over those of my village, but that I should feel free to speak on her behalf. She gave me a sad smile when she explained that she thought my father and the Third Hokage had the right idea but the wrong way of going about it.

Now I wore both headbands when I wasn't on an Anbu mission, further isolating myself from the villagers who should be like my family. As far as I knew, nobody had ever been of two villages before. Even the council had tried to have me shut out of their chambers, but when Gaara had become Kazekage he'd put an end to that.

A soft knock on the door made me grin, _speak of the devil_. Gaara was the only one who knocked, Baki didn't bother me in my room and my other siblings usually just barged in. I swung the door open and surprised my little brother by pulling him into a tight hug while I kissed the top of his crimson head.

"Kairi!" He groaned, struggling and squirming to get free.

I let him go after a few more seconds, happy to see him safe and normal after last night.

"What the hell was that about?" He hissed, running fingers through his hair.

"I just missed you." I shrugged, picking up the bag I had packed off the floor and slinging it over my shoulder.

His bright eyes softened and he gave a little, shy smile. He was still so unused to affection, it only made me want to squeeze him more but I knew I shouldn't push him. "I missed you too, Baki took Kankuro up to the briefing room."

"How did you get out of that?" I asked with a laugh. Gaara was uninterested in being offensive, he argued that it was better to stay defensive and neutral while our village was in such bad shape. Baki usually dragged him along anyway, insisting that the Kazekage stayed active in strategizing.

"I opened my gourd." He said flatly and I grinned. The others were still afraid of him, they had been here his whole life, watching the damage he could do.

I ruffled his hair, causing him to protest again. I may have been terrified of him as a child for what he had done to me, but I was spared the pain of watching him grow up. I'd never seen the tailed beast turn him into a monster and for that reason we had a different bond.

"Anyways." He shrugged, lifting a small lunch bag "I was wondering if I could walk you to the border?"

I almost jumped with glee. I wasn't supposed to leave until this afternoon, and Baki wanted me to take Sora and Kuru with me for my protection. _A lot of good those hungover idiots would be._ If Gaara and I snuck out now while my teammates were still passed out and Baki was distracted then I wouldn't have to deal with them and Gaara would get out of the village for the first time in a long time. I didn't even care about the threats we had been getting from other villages, let anyone try to stop the two of us together.

"Let's go now!"

"That was the plan." He smiled and we left.

We'd climbed up the wall beside our house, using a mixture of his sand and some red iron to cover our escape and camouflage us with the sandstone cliffs. Then we had run for about an hour, making sure we were out of patrol range before we finally slowed to a casual pace.

"Will you see Naruto?" He asked, looking straight ahead of us.

I smiled a little, he asked about the brat a lot and Kankuro had told me about the way Naruto had gotten to Gaara. Sometimes when Gaara was in a good mood; going on about how he was going to fix our village, become Kazekage or started saying 'believe it!' at the end of his sentences, Kankuro would ask him jokingly how hard Naruto had hit him in the head.

"I'm not going inside the village, Temari is going to meet me at a tea house on the road on the other side of the Land of Rivers.."

His face fell a bit, and he nodded. "You're still avoiding the Jounin?"

It was my turn to frown, shifting the weight of my pack as I stayed silent at his side.

There was a night, months ago.. I had come in late from a mission, not wanting to disturb them I had been sneaking past Temari's room and heard her talking about Kakashi to my brothers. She had been telling them that they needed to convince me to forgive him, that he had never even known my father would choose him for our arranged marriage and that he had no intention of ruling the village beside me.

It was quiet for what felt like hours as we walked, not an awkward silence but a comfortable one. Neither of us were much for small talk, and I didn't want to risk him trying to talk to me about someone I promised myself I would forget.

"Kairi?"

"Mhmm?"

From the corner of my eye I saw him bite his lip as if he was worried about what he was going to say and I braced for another comment about Kakashi.

"What does it feel like?" He asked after a moment, stopping to look at me "To have someone precious to you?"

I smiled at his shyness and ruffled his hair once again. "Why do you ask?"

He shrugged a little, narrowing his blue eyes in contemplation "I don't know what it is supposed to feel like."

I took my white traveling cloak off and laid it out in the sparse grass. The vegetation signified that we were getting close to the Land of Rivers. I grabbed the lunches he had packed for us and laid them out like a picnic before sitting down where he joined me.

"You're precious to me, Gaara." I smiled at him before taking a bite of my food. "That makes me want to protect you."

"Why?" He asked, nibbling at a rice ball.

"Because I love you... If you're happy, I feel happy too. When I see you smile it makes my heart feel light.. But if you're sad, I feel upset, all I want to do is to take that sadness away from you."

He nodded, contemplating the thought as he ate. I wanted to tell him about our mom, how precious he had been to her but it only ever made him leave so I kept it to myself. The lullaby from last night came back to my mind, followed by the more horrible parts of the nightmare. "Gaara.. Stay safe, for me?"

He smiled, agreeing with another nod but a horrible feeling had sunk into my stomach.

"What is it, Kai?"

"Can you please use the sand to get home? You're going to be on your own.."

"I had planned on it."

We finished eating, and I decided to send him back now, close enough to the border that I could cross and camp for the night. We said our goodbyes and I hugged my baby brother tightly to me, silently promising to protect him.

"If you see Naruto.. Will you tell him he is precious to me?" He asked quietly as I let him go, refusing to look at me.

"I will." I promised, wondering if I should venture into Konohagakure to find the little brat just to tell him.

"You're precious to me too, Kairi." He smiled, looking up at me now and then dug something out of the bag he carried.

I took the jar from him, it was a smaller version of the clay gourd he carried on his back and I couldn't help but smile "What's this?"

"I filled it with some iron, and some of my sand." He beamed with pride. "In case you need to protect yourself."

I went to tug him into another hug but he pulled back, waving as he disappeared in a whirl of sand.


	5. Bonding.

  
  
  


I'd never realized how long it had been since I was completely alone until I tried to camp at the border that night. I gave up after a few hours of laying there, staring up at the moon and started running towards the village again.

Even exhausted I was able to reach the tea house by noon. Temari was already there waiting for me, and I couldn't help but roll my eyes when she commented on my lateness. I'd left well before planned, and run all night but I was happy to see her after spending so long surrounded by men.

"Where is your team?" She gave me a disapproving look, obviously upset I had chosen to travel alone.

"Where is your boyfriend?" I shot back with a laugh as I sat beside her.

"I don't know who you mean." She sounded positively snobbish as she sipped her tea.

"A certain lazy chunin.."

"A weakling Leaf shinobi? Not on your life!" She snubbed, and then gave me a wicked smile. "Speaking of Leaf shinobi.."

I sighed, flashing her a glare. "Not this again.."

"He asked about you."

"Why do you always end up hanging out with him?" I avoided thinking about what he could have asked.

"It's easy, Shikamaru is Asuma's favorite and Asuma is friends with Kakashi." She shrugged as she poured me a cup.

"And Shikamaru is also your favorite."

"Kairi, you have been back long enough that I wouldn't feel bad about hitting you."

We both laughed and I took a greedy sip of green tea. It felt good to be around my sister, it had been a little over a month since we had last been home together at the same time.

"I'm serious though, you have to stop going off on your own." She complained after a few minutes of silence. "You're good at your job, that means you have pissed off a lot of people."

"I wasn't alone." I shrugged, smirking at her. "Gaara walked me to the border."

It was her turn to glare at me, a demeaning look that made my stomach twist. "That's even worse, what about the aka--"

"Stop, obviously I wouldn't put him in danger." It had been me that asked her to protect him anyways. "He took the sand back."

She nodded, but was still tense. I felt bad, but that feeling left me when she spoke again.

"What did he do that was so wrong?"

I couldn't stop the groan that came out as I dropped my head to the table. "Why are you doing this to me?"

"It's just a question." She snipped.

"You were there, you know what he did."

"No, I know what dad tried to do.." She placed a hand on my shoulder. "Kairi... Talk to me, obviously there was something between you two."

When I lifted my head to look at her she flicked her finger against the headband I had around my neck as if me wearing emphasized her point. I had avoided this conversation with her for so long, today I was stuck with her. I gave a defeated shrug and a sigh. "I don't even know Tem.."

"Just tell me everything." She encouraged, giving me a sweet smile, not a hint of sass.

So I did. I told her about getting into that stupid game of cat and mouse with him, about how he had saved me from Itachi and about being guarded by him and his sharingan. I was careful with the details of the cemetery, they weren't my stories to tell. "We were called to the Hokage's office and sent out on a mission."

"Even though she thought you were a spy?" She had an eyebrow raised, obviously wondering if Lady Tsunade was stupid.

"At Kakashi's insistence.." I continued, running my thumb over the metal part of his headband. "That's when he gave me this."

She nodded, urging me to continue.

I told her about the hot springs, how good it had felt to hang out with him and his friends.. _My friends_. I told her how we had stayed up talking and how he'd summoned the dogs to comfort me. She had already known about Orochimaru, Kabuto and my curse mark that was still on my arm, just sealed. I didn't need to spend too much time on that part of the story, but I found it difficult to tell her about the night in the hospital.

"He was drunk?"

I nodded slightly.

"And he snuck in your window?"

Again I nodded with a little bit of a blush.

"Kairi, he was out drinking with his friends.. And at the end of the night, he wanted to be with you." She reworded my story, awestruck. "That is so cute."

I felt my blush deepen, and found myself biting my lip thinking about those rushed kisses we'd stolen from each other that night.

"Oh my God, you didn't?"

"What?" I looked up at her confused, her eyebrows were raised and her eyes were wide.

"You did it didn't you! That's why you guys are so hung up on each other!" She pretty much yelled it out, earning us a look from one of the servers.

"Would you shut up!" I pushed on her head to get her to sit back down, turning fully red. "It wasn't that.. We just kissed... A lot."

"You need to come back and see him right now!" She shot back up and pulled at my arm, trying to get me to follow her back to Konohagakure.

"No, Temari stop! He was drunk, he didn't know what he was doing!"

"Why would you think that?"

"Because he's a jonin, an elite shinobi and I was just a kid.. An annoying, depressing teenager." I sighed, pulling my hand away from her and staring into my glass of tea. "That's why he avoided me for so long.."

The memories of waiting for him every night that week hurt, I felt stupid and that voice that was always in the back of my head kept ripping me apart about it.

"You're forgetting about the part where he saved your life.. All of our lives.." She said as she sat back down, filling her cup again with now lukewarm tea. "You don't know, do you?"

This was getting too painful, the memories and that stupid voice were getting harder to choke down. "I don't want to talk about this anymore." I whimpered, it sounded more like begging.

She nodded reluctantly, reaching for her cup to take a sip but it cracked when her hand got near. We both stared at the cup and then shared a worried look. I could tell she was thinking the same thing I was, _that can't be good._


	6. A surprise reunion.

  
  
  
  


We'd slowed our pace a bit, almost forgetting about the uneasy feelings we had been having since we left the tea house. We were back to talking and joking around. It was nice to be out here with Temari, she was so laid back and honest, she made me feel like I didn't have to try to be anyone but myself.

You think I should feel that with all of my siblings but with Gaara I was just trying to be the big sister, to make things easier on him.. For Kro, that one is harder to explain... Temari and I are both older than him, but with the way Kankuro and I act it's like I'm younger, I let my guard down around him and try to overcompensate for it by constantly arguing with him. We both know we don't mean it, and it's honestly fun. With Temari though, we could be the same age, twins even, she gets things the way the boys don't.

"I'm going to miss Konoha.." She randomly admitted to me.

"Going to miss that lazy boy, huh sis?" I wiggled my eyebrows in her direction.

Temari glared sideways at me and stuck her nose up in the air. "No. I'm going to miss the weather, and the greenery, and not having sand in everything."

I nodded a little, the whole feeling of the Leaf village was so different than ours. The debt and budget cuts hung heavily over everyone in Sunagakure, we all had to work harder and do better in everything. I guess dealing with all of that stress is why my father became the man he was, Gaara was stronger than him though, my little brother would be a better man.

"I'm going to miss swimming too!" Temari had continued. "Shikamaru took me to this really amazing waterfall."

"Oh he did, did he?" I smirked, catching her glare but feeling brave. "Sounds like a date to me."

My sister punched me in the nose.

I groaned, holding my face now that blood was filling my cupped hands. "That was uncalled for!"

"You get what you ask for." She shrugged.

I rubbed at my nose but it seemed to make it bleed more, I tried to tilt my head forward so the blood wouldn't stain the white cloak I had on over my outfit. It wasn't working though, there was so much blood I had to feel if it was broken or not. "I need to take care of this." I sputtered.

"There is water just through those trees, I guess I'll wait for you." She actually had the nerve to sound annoyed.

I stumbled off into the trees, finding the stream she was talking about pretty quickly. I removed my cloak and laid on my stomach, splashing water on my face and watching the blood swirl in the current. I knew better than to tip my head back, so I laid there letting it drip until it decided it was finished. I then very gently rubbed water on it to get rid of the last bit of blood and stood up, retrieving my cloak and turning to head back to my sister.

"Gaara?" I heard Temari's voice through the trees "You mean he's been.... He's been taken by the Akatsuki?" I felt my heart drop into the pit of my stomach, it made me freeze in place.

"We're two and a half days out from the sand, we should hurry.." A man's voice responded to her, a hauntingly familiar voice.

"Right!" I heard Temari agree. "I just need to... " _No, Temari just pretend I'm not here... I'll catch up._ "KAIRI! WE HAVE TO GO NOW!" _**Fuck**_.

I stepped out of the treeline and was met with the shocked faces of Sakura, Naruto and Kakashi.. There was more than shock on his face, so many emotions flashed through that one eye that said so much... Shock, pain, sorrow, happiness, disbelief, confusion, more pain. I bit my lip as I walked over to my sister's side.

"Huh?" Naruto tilted his head. "Saori? I thought she called you Kairi? Who are you?"

"This is my sister." Temari told him.

"I thought you had brothers?" He looked utterly stupefied.

"I do have brothers." Temari rolled her eyes dramatically.

"Naruto." Kakashi snapped at him "We need to get moving."

We started moving quickly through the canopy, Naruto taking the lead. He seemed so concerned about Gaara, it was warming my heart. Finally someone had met him and seen the good inside him instead of just the monster, this is the kid my little brother declared saved him one day in Konoha. This was the boy that was precious to Gaara.

We'd been moving at a good pace over the night and into the next day when Temari started passing out food pills to Sakura and I. It was getting dark again and Temari and I had already been up all night, we were falling behind and would need them to keep up with Naruto, usually Kakashi too but he was hanging back and stealing glances at me like I didn't see him. He seemed nervous, he was fidgety, and his usual sense of humor was gone, he'd been rather snappy with Naruto since they had met up with us. I watched him as he moved close to Sakura, he looked like he was about to say something stupid.

"You know those food pellets are only for emergencies." He told her, sounding like the little boy who always followed the rules he'd told me about. "And a girl your age should be especially careful with the high fa---"

Sakura bit down on her pellet with determination before she caught up with naruto, completely ignoring her sensei.

 _Is he really so uncomfortable he'd say something that gross?_ I wondered to myself as I cast a glance to my sister whose eyes were about to burn a hole in the back of his vest. I couldn't help but wonder what kind of sassy comment was going through her mind right now ( _Ever heard of sexual harassment,_ ** _old man?_** ) until she cast a glare my way too. I scrunched my face at her, did she really expect me to be responsible for the stuff he said?

"I didn't mean to be rude.." Kakashi said softly as his pace fell back to match mine.

I nodded, not saying anything. Being here with him like this, my emotions were going wild. Why the hell was he worried about Sakura's young figure?

He sighed audibly and we continued on in silence while Sakura and Naruto spoke about their lost friend, Sasuke. I couldn't concentrate on what they were saying, my mind was only on my little brother.

The things Naruto had said the night before, the admission that he too was Jinchuriki, the way he grabbed his heart when he professed that he and Gaara were the same. The boy gave a speech about my little brother that had me in tears. _"Why does his life have to be miserable all the time? Why is it always him!?"_ The Konoha Jinchuriki had cried out, and I wept for both of them.

All my life I wanted Gaara to have someone who cared about him this way, I was almost jealous of Naruto's bond with him. I couldn't find the words to tell Naruto how much his dedication to Gaara meant to me, and I don't think Temari could either as she didn't speak. Kakashi kept close to me as I cried, I'd kept silent to not draw attention but with the way he'd been watching me I never would of hid it from him. I was thankful he didn't attempt to speak to me or to touch me though. He did what he'd always done, he let me cry it out, though this time it wasn't safe and warm in his arms and my heart longed for that even after all this time.

\---

"Naruto, stop!" Kakashi called forwards to the Jinchuuriki.

Naruto turned around to look behind him, we had all stopped on a tree after Kakashi had held his arms out to halt. "What is it Kakashi Sensei?"

"We need to take a break, Naruto." Kakashi told him calmly.

Naruto gritted his teeth, glaring at his Sensei. "How can we stop? Gaara needs us.."

Neither Temari or I could argue that a break was more important than our brother but we were beyond exhausted. I was so tired I was beginning to feel dizzy and I wasn't watching my footing, Kakashi had caught me twice when I'd tripped on a branch or missed it all together.

"Temari and Kairi have been up for two days at this point, if we rest now we will move faster."

"That doesn't make much sense but okay..." Naruto agreed half heartedly. "Wait... Kairi?" He said my name again, like he was trying to remember who I was. I didn't blame the kid, he'd only met me a few times but it hurt a little, we were supposed to live together. "Sakura.. Wasn't she the one that you said Kaka- Aagh, what the hell did you hit me for?"

"Shut up, or I'll hit you again!" Sakura had moved so quickly from beside me to beside him I hadn't even seen it.

Naruto remembered me, as Saori.. But he had heard the name Kairi before. I glanced sideways at Kakashi, wondering what he'd said about me in front of them.


	7. The Truth.

  
  
  
  


Kakashi wouldn't sleep, worried the nightmares would return and the others would see the way he thrashed and clawed. Instead he took a walk, trying to clear his head of the fact that he was once again face to face with Kairi. He wasn't sure what she was to him, a best friend, a confident, someone who made him really laugh. He'd never really thought about or planned the way things had gone with them, he'd just been acting on how he felt. The kiss had surprised even him, with the way things went he found himself wishing for both - that it had never ended, and that it had never happened.

He sighed heavily as he looked around, not even feeling much like reading which really wasn't like him. Especially now that Naruto had given him the latest of Jiraiya's novels. He looked around, taking in the sparse forest, they were getting close to the border and this place was almost the same as where they had camped the night he'd brough Kairi back from Orochimaru. He quickly unsummoned Bisuke, realizing he wouldn't need the dog to keep an eye on her if she was right here with him.

What was bothering him the most is that he didn't feel like himself. It was driving him crazy, he was acting like he had when he was younger, and he couldn't leave Kairi alone. He needed answers, he understood she'd been upset, but she hadn't even left a note. She'd just forgotten about him, shut him out of her life and gone back to Sunagakure.

Kakashi closed his eyes, going back to that night in the hospital. He'd been drinking, but it wasn't the first time he had thought about kissing her. She'd kissed him back, had she just felt like she had to?

They had stayed up that night talking, telling war stories of sorts. He'd told her about his team when he was a child, how he was the only one left. He gripped his chest as Rin, Kairi and his chidori flashed in his mind.

He needed to let her go the way she had let him go, it was dangerous to want her near but he still did.

"Kakashi?"

He heard her voice like she was right there with him, _was he really going insane?_

"Are you okay?"

He felt a hand on his shoulder and realised she had found him out here, staring at a tree and lost in thought. "I'm fine." He shrugged slightly.

"Is this how you get lost on the path of life?" She attempted a joke with something he'd said to her once. It worked and he smiled a little but she couldn't see it.

"I suppose it is." He raised his eyebrow, she didn't understand how true that statement was. "You should be getting some rest, Kairi. We're going to have to make up time once the sun comes up."

"I don't sleep well." He heard her voice moving away from him and he turned around, she had walked over to a break in the canopy where she could look up at the moon. She'd always been so enthralled by it, and he'd been entranced by the way it lit her up. Her eyes sparkled, her skin glowed and it brought out the subtle red-violet tones of her hair. He couldn't remember noticing quite so many details about a woman before.

She'd grown in their time apart, her hair was longer, her face was more mature and her body had filled out. His mind wandered to the way Kurenai's bikini had once hung off of her and he doubted it would do that now. He shook his head, ashamed of thinking about that.

"I end up falling over every three days or so, I'll sleep for a few hours then." She continued speaking.

He scratched the back of his head, not really knowing what he should say. He was searching for the right thing when a glint of silver pulled his eye down towards her neck. His headband was tied there, the one he'd given her before they left on that first mission, before she'd left him. "You still wear it?"

"What?" She turned her eyes away from the pale glow of the moon, and noticed where his eye was fixed. She'd shifted her weight on her legs nervously, Kakashi noticed she was biting her lip the way she did when she felt shy. "I'm sorry I left that way." She finally whispered into the darkness, her left hand brushing against her cheek and he could tell she was wishing she had a mask on at this point.

"It's okay, you went home.. " He pulled his Anbu training back, keeping his face void of emotions as he shrugged.

He thought he saw pain taint her face for a moment before she did the same, using her training to reign in her emotions. "It was more than that."

Kakashi's poker face dropped, she was about to tell him how much of a creep he was, words just started pouring out. "I'm sorry for my actions, and for making you uncomfortable. It was a mistake and I forgot that you were so young... I would never agree to that arrangement, I don't even want to be a Kage of my own village."

Her lip quivered, her forehead dropped and the corners of her eyes tightened. She wanted to cry, he immediately felt bad for putting it so bluntly.

"It's just that I hadn't been able to be so... so.. Myself with anyone. Then there was you, and you understood it all, you let me talk about it without worrying how you would react... Emotions got the better of me." Kakashi said softly, trying to explain himself. "Then when Gai told me that you complained.."

"Gai told you what?" She sounded shocked and upset.

A while after Kairi had left, Gai had come to Kakashi concerned with how close he had gotten to her. He'd emphasized how young she was, when Kakashi had ignored him, Gai had told him that she'd gone to Tsunade to complain about his advances. That's why he had avoided Gai for almost the first year after everything had happened. He was still avoiding Tsunade, not wanting a repeat of her last lecture.

"Don't be mad at him, I needed to hear it I was out of line."

"I never complained." She scoffed, shaking her head. "I never said anything to anyone.. I was happy around you. I wanted to be your friend Kakashi, I wanted.." She trailed off and there was that little hint of pink in her cheeks again. "I don't know what I wanted, but I was happy."

He sighed a bit in relief, once again at a loss for words.

"When you started to avoid me.. I felt like I was a mistake you made when you were drunk.. And then the letter Kankuro showed me.."

 _You were never going to be a mistake_. That's what he wanted to tell her, but it sounded too strange for him to say it outloud. He was angry, angry at those who had made her feel so unsure, at those who had caused him all this pain. _Why was there so much pain? Why did he think about her so much?_ _They had only shared an intimate moment once_. His mind was racing, from anger, to relief, to mourning their lost time, to understanding his friends want to protect them both.

"Kakashi?" The way she said his name was so different from the way others did. It was like a whisper and a plea, he kind of liked the sound of it.

"Just taking all of this in." He said softly.

She nodded slightly, and a yawn escaped her lips. She'd barely been able to keep up earlier, if she didn't get some sleep Temari would probably have to carry her. He felt like it would still be too odd for him to try and carry her.

"You should get some sleep." He suggested softly. "Lets walk back."

She nodded, but there was a sadness in her eyes. He didn't understand what he had said that was wrong but they walked back in silence. Temari was leaning up against a tree, her eyes closed peacefully but her mouth hung open. Sakura wasn't far from her, her sleeping face restless and her lips forming Sasuke's name over and over again. Kakashi wondered if the way he felt was similar to Sakura, Sasuke had never once given her a reason to hang on so tightly and yet she loved him unconditionally.

He took his vest off, rolling it into a pillow for Kairi that he laid close to her sister. She came over and laid her white cloak out on the ground between herself and the dirt, he noticed the side she put to the ground looked like she had done this before. He said goodnight to her as she got comfortable and was headed to Naruto who was resting up in one of the trees when she called to him.

"Kakashi?"

He turned to her, only slightly.

"I'm not the Kazekage."

He smiled slightly, he'd heard the news about Gaara. "I know.."

He watched as she cuddled against her sister, and then returned to Naruto.


	8. Poisoned.

  
  
  


"Kairi?" My sister shook me gently awake and I opened my eyes to the pink and blue skies of near dawn. "We are getting ready to leave."

I nodded softly, trying to get up and disturbing the dog I was surprised to find next to me. He huffed a little, pushing his head further over the small of my back and adjusting his rather large paw.

Temari giggled a little "Looks like this big guy isn't ready to get up." She scratched Buru's ear, causing his paw to come up and kick at my back a little the way dogs do when you find the spot.

"Buru." Kakashi called from where he'd appeared between the trees. The large dog stood up, careful not to stand on me, and walked over to his master with a small whine. "Time to go back buddy."

Buru gave Kakashi's face a large kiss as he went to unsummon. It moved his headband up and he had to pull it back down over his sharingan as he stood back up. "Sakura and Naruto are ready to go." He informed us.

I nodded, quickly getting up and folding up my cloak to put away in my bag. I then handed Kakashi back his vest but he shook his head and told me to put it on if I wanted. I smiled, the morning was a bit crisp and I pulled it over my shoulders. I had to do it up to keep it from falling off during the journey as he had a broader frame than I did.

I was hurting about last night, in the delusions of sleeplessness I had confessed to him that I had wanted to stay with him, and he had told me I needed to go to bed. I had been hoping he would have told me the same, that he had wanted me to stay. Apparently somewhere in the night my nightmares had begun to annoy him again because he'd summoned Buru to comfort me. The voice inside raged on at me about being stupid, useless, and naïve.

It had taken almost half the day to reach Sunagakure, and we were met at the gates by Baki who seemed to be there waiting for us. It called back the nightmare of being in the Akatsuki. It started to set in, they had really taken Gaara.. And it was probably my fault for leading him out of the village.

"M'ladies." He greeted us, strangely formal. "Team Kakashi, welcome to our village."

Temari and I nodded respectfully to him but we didn't speak. More bad news was coming and we both felt it in our bones.

"Do you have anyone tracking Gaara?" Kakashi asked, straight to business.

"We had sent out a pursuit squad lead by Lord Kankuro.." Baki trailed off, his eyes falling to Temari and I. "I'm so sorry."

My heart fell.

"Where is my brother?" Temari growled.

"He is in the hospital."

Temari grabbed my hand, not waiting to hear the rest and we ran towards the hospital building, not knowing what to expect.

Kakashi stepped in front of us in the hallway, raising his hand to stop us. "Please, let me go first.." His speed was unbelievable.

I glared at him, this is was my brother. Kakashi had no ties to him, no reason to be the first to see him, no right to stop us like this.

"Okay.." Temari said, drawing me close to her and wrapping her arm around me like a half hug. "We will get our emotions under control."

Kakashi nodded, heading into the room while Naruto and Sakura waited with us. I suppose he was just trying to help.

"REVENGE AT LAST!"

I turned the corner to see Granny Chiyo, one of the villages secluded elders diving angrily at Kakashi.

"Granny no!" I cried out without thinking and then watched as Naruto and a clone blocked her and knocked her back.

"What do you think you're doing attacking Kakashi Sensei like that. You wrinkly old prune?" The clone growled before it dissipated.

"Naruto!" I snapped at him, nobody spoke to the elders like that.

"I haven't forgotten what you did." Granny Chiyo glared at Kakashi "I've waited for this day, White Fang of the leaf!"

 _Oh God, she's talking about his father_.

"The day I wreak vengeance on you for what you did to my son!"

_What the hell did Kakashi's dad do to her son?_

"No no no, you see I'm not..." Kakashi had his hands up, trying to calm her as he had that nervous smile in his eye.

"That's enough talk!" Granny growled.

I raised my eyebrows, looking from Kakashi to Granny Chiyo wishing I had some popcorn for this one. Watching an elite Shinobi get his butt kicked by an old woman would be beyond entertaining.

Grandpa blocked her, putting his arm in front of her and starting to explain to her that Kakashi was too young to be the man she thought he was. I smiled, grandpa always had the level head in this pair.

Okay, they aren't really my grandparents, but everyone in the village has always called them Grandpa and Grandma... They were actually siblings and had seats at the counsel whenever they wanted to join in on discussion. Although my siblings and I are distantly related to them, some marriage in my father's family tree as I remember.

I didn't finish listening to the conversation because as my eyes wandered around the room they set on my brother. "Kro!" I whimpered, going to his side and taking his hand in mine. "What happened to him?" I demanded, we had heard about Gaara being kidnapped, nobody said anything about Kro being injured.

He suddenly burst out in pain, grabbing for his throat and I jumped back, worried I'd hurt him. Seeing my 'big brother' like this was difficult, painful.

"Sasori poisoned him.." Baki said quietly, shame tainting his voice. Baki had almost raised Temari, Kankuro and Gaara since he became their team captain, he was a stone on the outside but inside he cared deeply for us. I imagined he was blaming himself for this.

Kakashi placed his hands on my shoulders, steadying me beside Temari as Sakura ran to Kankuro's side. "Here, let me take a look at him!" She said as she pulled her pink hair up out of her face.

"Yes please!" Temari answered her.

"It might help if you all clear out and give us some room." Sakura ordered.

Kakashi lingered for a moment, looking at me with concern but Temari grabbed my hand and pulled me away from him. "She's fine, she remembers her psychological training."

I nodded, reminding myself that weakness right now wouldn't help anyone and I pulled back my tears, replacing my fear with determination. Kakashi nodded and left the room with Naruto and the elders.

Temari and I squeezed each others hands tightly as we watched Sakura work, and discuss the type of poison that was killing our brother. I thought about when we were kids, how much I'd picked on him playfully, and made fun of his puppet friends. I thought of all the years I'd been away from him, and how he always looked out for me now that I was home.

"What are you saying?" Temari's panic drew me away from my thoughts. "There's nothing you can do?"

I looked desperately to Sakura, she gave us a weak smile and began barking orders to the medical nin.

I let go of my sister's hand, backing away from my brother's hospital bed and up against the wall. The voices around me became a blur as I stared at him lying there, at them holding him down as he cried out in pain.

"Kairi!" Temari called to me.

"She's in shock." Sakura told her softly. "Just help me please, keep him down."

Soon Sakura announced that Kankuro was out of immediate danger, and Temari came over to the wall and sunk down onto the floor, pulling me with her as she gave a sigh of relief. I leaned my head on her shoulder, still staring wide eyed at the body of my brother, of my Kro.

After a few minutes of Sakura barking orders, and people talking, I heard Kankuro groan slightly, and mutter for Gaara.

Temari grabbed my hand and pulled us both up, rushing to his bedside. I placed my hand on his forehead gently, and then moved it to his cheek.

"Kankuro, are you alright?" Temari asked from the other side of him.

He turned to look at her and I took his hand in both of mine. "You girls are back already?"

"We heard what happened to the village." Temari explained.

"I'm sorry to be such a bother." My brother rasped out, I couldn't help but smile. Of course he would say something so stupid.

"Kankuro, don't get up!" I gasped as he struggled away from the bed.

He ignored me and spoke to Kakashi only, informing him that he wouldn't need to examine where he'd been attacked if his puppets were brought to him.

As Baki took Kakashi to get the puppets, Temari and I both sat on Kro's bed. We each had one of his hands in our own, and the three of us were just sitting in silence not wanting to talk about the darkness hanging over our heads.

Temari and I got up as Kakashi brought in and unwrapped Kankuro's now destroyed Crow puppet. I gasped softly, seeing it lay in pieces but Temari assured me Kro would have it fixed in no time. It was the first fighting style puppet Kankuro had gotten and he'd made many personal modifications to it. I liked to joke that he named it Crow because of the nickname I'd given him.

We learned that even as he was certain to die, he had used the puppet's arm to cut off and keep a piece of his attackers clothing. I couldn't help but smile, he did our village proud. Our mother would have been beaming, that he would go down fighting the way a Shinobi of Sunagakure should.

"Kairi?" A familiar voice made me perk up. "Is that you I smell?"

"Pakkun!" I squealed, running over to pick the pug up and scratch behind his years. "It's been forever!" I absently petted Kakashi's other dogs as well, I'd missed them.

Kakashi cleared his throat and I looked up to see his eyebrow raised as he stared at me. "I just got Naruto to leave them alone so I could give them their mission."

I bit my lip and nodded as I set Pakkun down. "Of course, I am sorry."

Kakashi laughed "We can take them for a walk when they get back and have rested if you would like, Kairi."

I smiled now, and then returned to the bedside of my brother as Kakashi gave his pack the scent.

Temari and I were sitting with Kankuro as Sakura came over and asked us to let him get some rest, we nodded sadly and as I got up I heard Baki offering a room to the Konoha team.

Naruto went to argue with them, that he needed to go after Gaara but Kakashi looked over to me and than spoke with Baki, cutting Naruto off "Thanks, we will take you up on your offer." When Naruto turned to him, Kakashi added "We may have to travel far and fast tomorrow."

"Okay, you win." The little blonde haired Jinchuuriki conceded only when Sakura agreed with their sensei.

I was torn as well, and I knew my brother and sister felt the same. We all wanted to go get Gaara, it was so hard to just sit around and rest while knowing he was only getting farther away. It just made me feel helpless, I'd pushed myself before, I wanted to now but I knew resting would be better in the long run.

My eyes fell on Naruto, he was so determined to save Gaara and yet I didn't think he'd ever seen the good side of him. I had to admit, this kids energy rubbed off on you, I was already believing in him. I somehow knew that as long as he was fighting for Gaara, my baby brother would be returned to me.

"Naruto.." Kankuro's voice drew the attention of everyone in the room. "Save my little brother, will you?"

Even Kro was ready to let Naruto take care of this.

"Don't worry, I will." Naruto vowed. "After all, I am going to be Hokage someday, and for now... The Kazekage can just owe me one."

I couldn't help but smile, he truly was the number one knucklehead ninja. I wished Gaara had met this boy sooner, it may have saved a lot of people.


	9. Falling.

  
  
  
  
  


I wasn't really sure what had brought me out in the chilly night air, I couldn't sleep, I kept closing my eyes and seeing Kankuro grasping at his throat in pain, or the rare smile I'd seen on Gaara's face before I left to go get Temari. I felt helpless, the last bit of hope Naruto had inspired was faltering. _How the hell did things go so wrong?_

Temari and I had tucked Kankuro in for the night, making sure to leave lots of water at his bedside. We'd walked home together, to the house that felt so empty now. Temari had let me come to her room, and we had curled up in her bed where I played with her hair until she fell asleep. Sleep wouldn't come to me though, so I decided to get a drink, and now here I was, wandering through the village in an almost fully see through sleeping gown covered only by a thin, kimono like robe. The desert days might be sweltering, but the nights froze, and this wasn't the outfit to be out in.

I'd been walking around the village for almost an hour, nobody else was out, their hearts were too heavy with the loss of the Kazekage to be out making merry. Just the guardians were patrolling the village and I smiled and nodded at the very few I'd passed.

"Kairi, I thought that was you." A male's voice called to me from an open doorway, interrupting my grieving.

I looked up to find it was one of the older men in the village who favoured my attention, I'd meant to avoid his street entirely. I sighed softly, drawing my arms across my torso to cover up my body. "It's me Reo, go ahead back inside."

The man scoffed, insulted and came out of his doorway, drawing the sand coloured robe off of his shoulders as he walked towards me. "And leave such a pretty young thing out in the cold?" He grunted as he tried to wrap me in the robe. I pushed it away, the cold was the only thing I could truly feel right now and I needed it nipping at my skin.

"I'd like to be alone." I told him flatly.

"Come now Princess, let me keep you warm." He insisted, looking at my dress in a way that would have made me afraid if I was in the right mind. The scent of alcohol was drifting from him.

I drew up the iron sand with my magnetic style kekkei genkai and let it waver ominously behind me. "I said I would like to be alone."

Reo glared at the sand, as if he might dare go against it. I was about to lash out at him, I didn't care if I killed him but before I made the move someone was standing in front of me, their arm held defensively in front of my body. "I believe she's told you a few times now that your company is not wanted." Kakashi's voice came, light and playful with a dangerous undertone.

Reo growled under his breath but made his way back towards his house. "A traitor anyways, probably caused this with her traitor fiancé." He was talking about Yura -a council member who had requested an arrangement between us-, but I wasn't sure what he meant in calling the man a traitor. It was common of men to call horrible things as they limp away with their tails between their legs.

"I could of handled that." I sighed, dropping the mineral dust.

"I know you could have." Kakashi said simply, turning around and looking at my face. "But then they would have said the same things about you that they used to about your little brother."

I shrugged, not caring what they said. It was their fault Gaara's life had been so miserable, they had been cruel and unkind and now that he was Kazekage they all wanted to pretend he was their best friend. I balled my hands into fists, my little brother had been taken from me and nobody from my village would lift a finger outside my family. The council was probably trying to pick a new Kazekage right now. I dug my nails into the skin of my palms, I could now feel three things: pain, anger and cold.

"Kairi?" The silver haired Shinobi asked softly, he hadn't bothered to cover his sharingan back up, he was using it to study every subtle movement I made.

"I'm fine." I said in a monotone.

Kakashi nodded, and then turned to walk down the street, hands in his pockets.

"Where are you going?"

"You wanted to be alone, remember?" He said without stopping or looking back at me.

I sighed, another unnamed feeling squeezing at my gut. I'm not sure why, but I didn't want him to leave.

"Please stay." It came out like a breath, not even a whisper but he had heard it. He stood there now, not saying anything and just waiting. I walked until I was standing beside him and then he began to walk with me, keeping my pace. The silence filled the night air and I enjoyed it, the only thing that broke it was the sound of our footsteps. I liked the way he allowed me to speak only if I wanted to, the way he didn't try to fill the silence with meaningless small talk.

"I miss him." I finally broke the silence as we climbed the crisscrossing steps up to the top of the plateau that gave Sunagakure its natural gates.

"Kairi.." He sighed, not in annoyance, just in the way you would if you couldn't think of anything to say. "We will get Gaara back, alive."

We continued to the edge without speaking again, and I stood there looking out over the vast desert wondering how far they could have gotten now while we were here, making no moves.

"You can't just turn it all off when it hurts." Kakashi spoke from somewhere behind me.

I didn't answer him, I knew what he meant though. The reason I wasn't able to feel anything was because I had gone back to my psychological training from the Root. I had activated the autopilot so to speak, I'd pushed every painful emotion behind a solid wall in my mind and shut the good ones down too for good measure.

You have no name.  
You have no feelings.  
You have no past.  
You have no future.  
There is only the mission.

I looked down the steep cliff face in front of me, I'd moved myself to perch just at its edge, and the wind whipped by me like it was trying to shred my skin. There was still a bunch of rubble in the pass, but they had cleared away enough that a small pathway led through it. I could see it from where I stood, the corner between the path and open desert. The sand was red down there, the blood of the pursuit squad that was sent with my brother. The wind tried to push me back, and I tried to counter it by leaning forward. The uneasy ground beneath me began to crack and giveaway. My heart wrenched as I began to drop, my feet slid forward as pebbles crumbled and fell down to the rocks below. My robot personality broke and I let out a scream as I fell.

"Kairi!" Kakashi was there within milliseconds with my wrist in his hand, holding me as I dangled from the cliff.

He hauled me back up over the edge, the effort of it made him fall backwards and pull me into his lap where I broke. He held me close to his chest as I cried.

"I'm so sorry." I gripped his shirt in my fist, trying to put my walls back up, to choke down the emotions but the tears kept coming.

He stayed quiet but gently moved himself away from me long enough that he could stand. He hauled me up in his arms and stepped further back from the weakened edge. I curled myself up as small as I could in his arms, hiding my face against his chest as he moved off of the plateau and onto the roof of the hidden training grounds. "Kairi, where is your house?"

I pointed towards the back of the village, to where a round roof stuck out from the cliff side. He began moving towards it, careful not to bounce me too much.

I'd managed to calm myself, not sobbing any longer though tears escaped my eyes.

Kakashi nudged the front door open with his foot and carried me inside, letting me guide him to the back of the house, to my room.


	10. Bittersweet.

  
  
  
  


"Those are some deadly looking teddy bears" He teased as he looked around my childhood prison. His eyes landing on a neatly stacked collection at the end of my bed.

"They are when it's magnetic minerals filling them." I laughed a little as the teddy came up into the air, and then landed on the floor with a thud.

"Got some weight to it." He said, setting me down on my own feet.

I nodded, shivering from the cold that felt like it had sunk into my bones. Kakashi was so quick, the white bear I had left on my bed toppled over as he stole the blanket from beneath it. He wrapped my blanket around me and pulled me close against his body the way he used to. "Thank you. " I mumbled softly, smiling.

"I understand why you were out there, but in an outfit like that?"

I shrugged, I mostly borrowed Temari's clothes and this nightgown was one of her favourites. "You don't like it?" I looked up with narrowed eyes to see him blush slightly.

"I.. Uh.. I just think something warmer.." His stumbling words failed as I grinned. He started to laugh, it was nice to hear him laugh after so long. I started to think about something Temari had said about him being different over the years. ' _He's been locking himself away when he's not on missions.'_

"Kakashi?"

"Mhmm?"

"What have you been doing all this time?"

He thought about it for a moment before he answered. "I had a lot of time I didn't know what to do with, Tsunade was training Sakura, Naruto was off on an adventure with Jiraiya, Sasuke.. Well, you know where he went."

I nodded, then asked what he'd decided to do with that time.

"I had missions, and training.." Was the only answer he would give me. "Oh, I forgot to give this to you earlier." He reached his hand into his pocket and drew out my old headband, I'd already known he had it. Temari had told me she'd seen him holding it before.

"I like that you kept it." I smiled, pushing his hand away.

He smiled with his eye and nodded slightly. "I like that you kept mine too."

I wiggled in the blanket cocoon he had wrapped around me, trying to get to my bed. Kakashi started laughing at me and he wrapped me in his arms again and spun, falling down onto the bed and pulling me with him. It was like we had never been apart, there was no awkwardness hanging over us right now and I loved it. He scooted up into the corner so he could lean against the wall and he pulled me with him so I was laying between his legs with my head on his chest. He began to make fun of my bed, how he felt like a giant laying in it.

We avoided the topic of why I left completely and I told him about the missions I'd been on, and about hanging out with my family during down time. He told me about tracking the Akatsuki, and keeping tabs on Orochimaru.

I yawned sleepy and nuzzled my face against his chest, causing him to laugh a little. "What is your fiancé going to think of me in your room like this?"

I rolled my eyes, of course he remembered Reo's comment. "I don't have a fiancé so I don't imagine he would think much."

He sighed, it sounded like relief. He then put a finger under my chin and lifted my face so I was looking at him, he had his sharingan exposed again. We were staring into each other's eyes as he asked "You didn't run off and find someone did you?"

I wasn't sure if he was using his sharingan to see if I was lying or if he just wanted to look into my eyes like this. I shook my head slowly, wanting to tell him he'd been the only one I ever kissed but I figured that was embarrassing so I went with "I missed you."

Besides, he already knew about that day in the forest with Itachi.. Though I hadn't kissed him back. The nightmare came back again, the way it had felt when I had kissed the rogue Uchiha, my stomach twisted.

"I missed you too." He said softly, a smile touching his eyes.

I tangled my fingers with his, it felt nice having him so close again but it also felt like some kind of dream. If it was it would be bittersweet, I'd wake up tomorrow with my brothers safe and home, but I would go on missing the leaf shinobi who had brought life back to me.

It was hard to keep my mind off of Gaara, Kakashi was a good distraction but my brother crept his way in. I wondered where he was now, I felt guilty. He could be freezing in some sort of cell, tortured or worse and here I was, safe and warm in the arms of someone precious to me. Would Gaara ever be able to know what that felt like? Would he be able to live long enough for light to brighten his dark life?

"I'm probably going to die tomorrow." I said with certainty.

Kakashi stayed silent a moment before he sighed and kissed my forehead. "Don't say that, you're strong."

"Not when it comes to him." I choked out, the lump forming in my throat was painful but it was choking back the sobs. I would do anything for that bright eyed baby boy, I'd even trade my life for his.

"You can't leave me like that again." He whispered against my hair, squeezing my hand a little tighter.

I didn't know what I could say to that. It wasn't a fair request for him to make, not when all of this was going on. I was once meant to be my brothers executioner, now he wouldn't die if I could help it. I felt a tear slip down my cheek, what an emotional day this was.

We didn't talk after that, at some point we must have fallen asleep because I dreamt of the cloud cloaked demons that had taken one of my brothers and nearly killed the other.

I would never forgive Itachi, or Hex.


	11. Rescue Mission: Failed?

  
  


"You will see Gaara again." Kakashi whispered against my hair. "I promise."

I awoke to something tickling my face, and I batted it away a few times before I heard a small whine of complaint from it.

I opened my eyes, blinking away sleep to see one of Kakashi's Ninken sitting on my bed. Bisuke wagged his tail as I started to open my eyes and then nuzzled his face against mine.

"Hey buddy." I giggled sleepy, looking around to find just us in the room.

I figured Kakashi had probably gotten up at dawn as he usually did, and went to find some breakfast. I smiled, he wouldn't know that Gaara would already be up cooking, for a boy who didn't like to eat in front of people he sure....... **_Gaara_**. I ripped my blankets off the bed, causing Bisuke to jump down onto the floor and I changed as quickly as I could. I was still doing up my weapons pouch as I ran out the front door towards the hospital, Bisuke nipping playfully at my heels.

"Isn't that one of that leaf Jonin's Ninken?" Temari asked as I approached her at the hospital doors. She'd slept through the night as far as I knew but she still looked rough.

"Yeah, little guys been with me all morning." I shrugged, pulling the door open for my sister and the dog.

"I saw him leave this morning.." She complained as we walked towards our brothers room.

"Yeah... We were talking and I guess we fell asleep." I hated that she'd been up when he left, hated that I felt bad for having him over.

"Do you think it might be too soon to be jumping back into old ways? People change a lot in a couple years... Look at our baby brother."

I smiled a little, I knew she was right but I wasn't looking for a lecture from my little sister. I imagined that's how my mom would have handled it though, maybe some more yelling.

"Ladies!" A currier called to us as we were outside of Kankuro's door. "The leaf nin have found Lord Kazekage!"

"What?" Temari turned to him. "Gaara, you sure?"

"Yes ma'am, they've found where the akatsuki have taken him." The currier confirmed. "The Konoha ninja are getting ready to move out."

"So will we." Temari nodded to me, and then looked back at the currier "I want you to put together a pursuit squad, and be quick."

"Right." He nodded, taking off back down the hall.

I heard Kro groan in pain and Temari and I both ran into his room.

"Kankuro, what do you think you're doing?" She scolded him as he tried to push himself up out of bed.

"You're not supposed to be up!" I added, giving him a soft glare.

"You're not going anywhere, you need to rest." My sister demanded of him.

When Kankuro gave us that worried look, we knew what he was thinking.

"I give you my word, I'll get Gaara back." Temari vowed.

"Me too!" I added, nodding determinedly.

Kro stared at us for a while but finally nodded, laying back down to rest as if it had taken everything in him to sit up.

Temari and I didn't waste much time getting him tucked back in before we gathered our pursuit squad and went to meet with team seven of Konoha.

Kakashi was filling Naruto and Sakura in as we approached. "Seems we will be working in conjunction with a squad from Suna, as soon as they are here, we will head out."

"Sorry to keep you waiting." My sister bowed her head as we walked up with our team.

"Temari!" Sakura smiled brightly.

"Kairi!" Naruto grinned.

"Bisuke is this where you ran off to?" Kakashi spoke to the dog that was still following me. He smiled a little, his visible face kept blank so I couldn't read his expressions.

"But Kakashi I thought you had Bisuke stop following Kairi?" Naruto asked, looking up at his sensei.

Kakashi's eyebrow raised in surprise and he smacked Naruto in the back of the head.

"Ow, what the hell was that for?" The feisty Jinchuuriki growled as he rubbed the comedic looking welt.

I narrowed my eyes at Kakashi but said nothing.. _So he'd had his ninken with me the whole time?_

"Well.. If that's everybody.." Kakashi said awkwardly.

"Okay, there's no time to waste let's get this show on the road!" Naruto exclaimed as he stretched, apparently already forgotten about being hit.

"Wait." Baki called from above as he jumped down in front of us all. "M'ladies, the two of you and your group will stay here, patrol the perimeter.

I rolled my eyes, of course he was going to block us from going to Gaara.

"Are you kidding me or what?" Temari growled through her teeth.

"Orders, from above." Baki said, almost apologetically. "If word gets out that Lord Kazekage is missing, our enemies may use it as an opportunity to launch an attack on the village.

"Come on." I hissed.

"Don't you get it?" Temari pleaded. "That's all the more reason we have to get him back as quickly as we can. Look at these leaf shinobi, they left their village and came all the way here just to help us rescue Gaara! He's not even their leader, he's our Kazekage! The sand shinobi should be the ones to save him!"

"His family should be the ones to save him!" I added, again wanting to fight my father figure.

"I'm sorry.." Baki took a step back, dropping his head. His hands were tied, we knew it as well as we knew our own were. Our budgets had already been cut, annoying the feudal Lord was not the way to go.

"Well I'm going!" Granny chiyo called from a roof above us. "If a sand shinobi is needed then I am the one to go."

I tuned out of the conversation, Granny was old and would likely only slow team seven down. My attention was on Kakashi, pleading with him silently to bring my brother back to me. He gave a subtil nod and headed towards the gate as I took my own squad out to the outer perimeter.


	12. Hopeless.

  
  
  


I was already at the wall when Temari and her squad finally reached mine. It wasn't much of a wall at all, more an old ruined castle. Somewhere they would put someone to keep them out of the way. My anger had flared when I realised that.

"Kairi.. You didn't have to push them so hard." Temari growled at me when she joined me on the rooftop. "You have genin with you."

"They are fine." I snapped back at her.

She sighed, putting a hand on my shoulder as we gazed out at the forest beyond. "I'm worried too."

I knew she was, it was the only thing keeping me here, keeping me from switching into autopilot or running into that forest and screaming for Itachi to show himself. Temari was hurting just as badly as I was, and I didn't want to leave her alone.

"Did you have to bring them?" I gently nudged her, nodding down towards two of the genin in her squad. Matsuri and Yukata, both annoyingly obsessed with Gaara.

Temari allowed herself a smile. "They were assigned to me.. Besides, careful.. One of them may be your sister in law."

I snorted a laugh and shook my head.

"Get some rest Kairi, I'll take first watch."

I eyed my sister, and then decided against arguing with her. I went down into the ruins and slid into one of the bedrolls, trying my best to get some real sleep. I dreamt about my bear again, the way it had glowed and illuminated the silhouette of my mother. She had been warning me, warning me not to get too close to Itachi.

I woke up to shouting coming from above, Temari's voice. I made my way to her as quickly as I could, hoping for some news. I was disappointed when I found her speaking with Matsuri, I'd been expecting to find Baki had come to get us. I walked up to Temari as Matsuri left and gave her a questioning look.

Temari shrugged and shook her head "they don't know why we are out here when we should be looking for Gaara."

"They don't think we are the first ones who want to desert this place and find him?"

She smirked, nodding as she crossed her arms. "You slept all night for once."

"And no news has come?"

When she shook her head I sighed "It is your turn to rest."

"I already have." She insisted, I decided not to fight with her.

We had stayed out there, staring into that forest for hours before Sora found us. I hadn't realised he'd come with Temari's team. "Lady Kairi, Lady Temari.. Lunch is ready."

We nodded, then followed him down to the fire where they scooped us out bowls of soup and bread rations. We were just sitting down to eat when both of our bowls cracked as we held them, the pieces falling to the floor in a mess of soup.

Temari and I shared the mournful look, my stomach twisted and I bit back the scream building in my throat. "Gaara.."

"No, he is fine." Temari insisted, taking my hand and leading me back over to the fire where she got us two new bowls.

We went up top, sitting on the wall as we stared out into the forest feeling more useless than ever. I heard the approach of running feet and shot up from where we were resting.

"Kairi, don't!" Temari had stood as well, pushing my hand down with her own. "They are our replacements."

"Our replacements?" I tilted my head confused.

"I didn't want to get your hopes up in case Kankuro couldn't pull it off.."

I smiled at her, giving her a quick nod that I understood.

When we found Kankuro he was looking better, he had his full kabuki paint on and his puppets strapped to his back. I silently reminded myself to thank Sakura as he and Temari snipped at each other. It wasn't long before we took off running again, we ran all out towards the land of rivers but not long after we had crossed its borders I heard Kankuro hault everyone behind us.

"Why did you stop us, Kankuro?" Temari asked as I turned around, but I could already see the pile of genin and jounin alike behind her, struggling to catch their breath.

"We should all rest for a while." Kankuro smiled, I could tell he was trying to stay light hearted to keep us calm.

"Do what?" Temari started to growl. "What are you talking about Kankuro? We don't have time to just sit here and take a load off?!"

I went to make a snide remark about the way she told me not to push my genin so hard yesterday but Kro spoke again before I could "Now don't be so impatient, it's not like you to lose your cool sis." He nodded behind her, towards our collapsed squad.

I couldn't help but smile as they continued to argue, and my smile only grew when these exhausted shinobi began standing up and declaring their love for our little brother. He really had inspired and ignited passion in our homeland. We thought we had got them back into gear when Grandpa stood up and started lecturing us. I tuned out of it, trying to figure out when exactly he had decided to join our squad when he glared at me and I focused.

"Look at yourselves! All worked up, you don't even realise where we are do you?"

"What are you talking about?!" Temari snapped at him.

"Well.. For example over there.."

We all turned to see what the elder was talking about, a massive crater in the ground not far from where we stood. My heart dropped as he explained it looked like a battle between the Akatsuki and the Leaf shinobi and I broke off from the group to examine the site.

I closed my eyes, trying to pick up the chakra signatures of who might of been here but it was no use, I'd never trained in sensory type of this level. When I opened my eyes again a crow feather drifted through the air in front of me and I snatched it in my hands.. Itachi..

My eyes fell on multiple, deep holes in the ground and my heart sank even more knowing that it was Kakashi's jutsu.. I tried not to think about what had happened the last time the two of them faced off, Kakashi had been put in the hospital for at least a week.

I hated this, hated that Baki had held me back while others went to save my little brother. It should have been Kankuro, Temari and I up against Itachi.. Kankuro could have distracted him with the puppets, Temari could have attacked from above and I would be free to sneak up with my magnetic jutsu.

"Kairi." Kankuro placed a hand on my shoulder, his teeth gritted. "We are going to rest, Grandpa is going to tell us a story."

"But..."

"No." He growled at me, effectively silencing me. "The elder is right, we don't know what we are up against and we can't rush in this emotional."

I gave him a weak nod, following my brother over to where the others sat and sitting down between him and Temari. Temari laid her head against my stomach, and I used Kankuro as a pillow as we listened to Grandpa's story.


	13. Kazekage Prayer.

  
  
  


Grandpa had told us about the Third Kazekage, the most powerful of our villages leaders and the man I inherited my kekkei genkai from. He had gone missing, they had never found his body. It made me feel even sicker as I thought about Gaara. It wouldn't be the same this time, I wouldn't let it.

We got back on our feet after about a half an hour and started moving again, conserving our energy at this pace in case we would have to fight. It wasn't long before we found the hideout, or what was left of it. Now it was nothing more than a massive shell, littered with bodies.

As I gazed down at the mess in front of me, a flash of crimson hair caught my eye. "Gaara!"

"Kairi no!" Kankuro grabbed my arm, pulling me back from the edge I'd been about to jump off of to go and hold my baby brother. He pulled me back and held me tight in his arms. "Look around, little sister."

I stopped glaring at him and once again gazed down into that crater, confused at what he was trying to tell me.

"Puppets!" Temari gasped beside us. "They are all puppets."

Kankuro nodded, brushing my hair back from my face. "That isn't Gaara down there, it is Sasori."

My eyes went wide, _Sasori of the red sand.._ He'd been missing for ten years. He had been tutoring Kankuro and I before I left the village.. I'd never realised how much he looked like Gaara. Sasori was the one who gave Kankuro his Karasu puppet, and part of the reason I had chosen the code name I had in the Leaf.

"Gaara's still out there." Temari growled.

Kankuro and I nodded to her, and the squad took off again. Rushing down the ravein and using the wooden logs to push ourselves forwards. We were close now, I could feel it. We had been able to see explosions and some sort of weird, warping jutsu as we had neared the base.

It was nearing dusk when we found a group gathered in a clearing. I could make out Sakura's pink hair and my heart lifted. We had finally caught up to them.

"Brace yourselves." I barked out to the team, and we pushed ourselves to close the remaining distance.

"Kai.." Kro drew my attention, nodding towards the treeline to the west of us.. More Sunagakure shinobi were rushing towards the group.

We managed to reach them first, and I spotted Naruto and Granny Chiyo hunched over Gaara. My heart sank, seeing him there so lifeless. It was enough to stop us in our tracks.

"Kairi.. Temari, Kankuro.." Kakashi's voice forced me to look at him, he was sitting down not far from my brother.. He looked worn down. "It's alright."

I nodded to him, looking around at the rest of the group there.. Everyone was beaten down, Sakura worst of all. I felt guilt claw at me for not being there, for not helping with whatever they had faced.

"Naruto.."

I whipped my head back to my baby brother, he was sitting up now and confused at the large gathering that had formed around us. I felt tears wet my cheeks as I saw his eyes, his bright, full of life eyes.

"W-what is this?" He was shocked, he didn't understand what had happened.

"They all came running to help ya!" Naruto grinned at him. "You've had everyone worried half to death."

"Lord Gaara!" I heard Matsuri's voice and turned to glare at her, worried she was going to jump on him. She glanced at me and slowed her pace. "Sir are you alright?"

Gaara gave a week nod and everyone called out in celebration. I couldn't help but join them, seeing all this support for him. The village that feared him, made his life so terrible.. They were here, rooting for him. It didn't take me long to notice I wasn't the only one crying.

"You sure had us worried there." Naruto gently teased Gaara.

"No kidding, you caused us a whole ton of grief there little brother." Kankuro added, walking up out of the celebrating crowd.

I grinned, leaning against Kro and just giving Gaara the stupidest smile I could manage. I had no words to describe the deep relief I was feeling.

"Ugh.. Would you two quit putting on airs already? Gaaras the Kazekage, remember?" Temari scoffed, shaking her head. I could tell she was still tense about everything that happened. "Show a little respect, ya nitwits."

I snorted a laugh, Kankuro was glaring at our sister and I thought I heard Naruto growl.

"Yeah, nitwits." I couldn't help myself.

Suddenly Temari shoved Naruto to the side, her face full of concern as she leaned into our little brother. "Gaara, talk to me.. How do you feel?"

"So much for not putting on airs." I heard Kakashi mumble from the other side of Gaara and giggled.

Temari tried to calm him as he struggled to stand up. I heard her tell him something about recovering from rigamortis and my body shook.. _He really had died._ My eyes wandered to Lady Chiyo, who had been pulled away by Sakura and I wondered how she had pulled this off.

Matsuri pulled my attention back to her when I once again heard her say my brothers name. "Lord Gaara is the hottest thing ever, he's a quiet, cool, strong and elite warrior!"

I raised my eyebrows.

"Yeah.. Yeah" Yukata joined in, clasping her hands together the way Matsuri had. "Gaara is totally gorgeous isn't he? After all he is our Kazekage."

I pulled a kunai from the pouch I had strapped onto my right thigh.

"If anything should ever happen again I will protect him with all my heart!"

"No! I will."

"Get in line!"

I glared at them as they made their way closer to my little brother, shoving each other and Naruto out of the way as they neared him. Temari and I were up in an instant, forming a wall to keep these brats away from Gaara.

I held up my knife, eyeing Matsuri as she tried to duck under Temari's arm. "Touch him with one finger and I will cut it off." I growled, and then knocked Yukata back with my elbow as she went to dart around me.

"No she won't.." I started ignoring the genin girls when I heard Naruto and Kankuro talking about Granny Chiyo. My eyes fell to her broken body, cradled in Sakura's arms as Kankuro spoke. He explained that what she had done was some sort of forbidden jutsu, trading her own life for Gaara's.

As happy as I was to see Gaara safe and sound, my heart hurt for Granny.. She was one of the eldest in the village, and though she was reclusive she had contributed so much to our puppet core in her lifetime. She'd also lost so much, Sasori and his parents..

"Naruto.. There really is something different about you." Temari glanced sideways at the overgrown Genin.

"It's true." I smiled, pulling my eyes away from Granny Chiyo. "You really do have the power to change people."

"Lady Chiyo always used to say that she didn't care about the future of the hidden sand village." Temari continued, nodding to me as we both gazed back at the elder. "She wasn't the kind of person who would do something like this for Gaara."

I smiled, looking to Naruto and holding back tears. "Thank you.. For making her believe in my brother."

"Lady Chiyo intrusted the future to you and Gaara.." Kakashi told Naruto from where he was sat behind him. "It was a death befitting a shinobi."

I turned my eyes to his cool, grey one. He had his sharingan uncovered but kept it closed and I could see the full extent of the nasty scar that marred his face. I smiled, a silent thank you for saying such kind words for a woman he barely knew.

"Lord Gaara!"

I glared in the direction of Matsuri, and then smirked as I watched Gaara shake her off of him as he tried to stand. I don't know why those two annoyed me so much, I should have been happy that someone saw Gaara the way they did. A real smile touched my face as Naruto grabbed his arm and Gaara didn't brush him off this time.

"Everyone.. Pray for Lady Chiyo." Gaara called out, sounding like a Kazekage should. "Bid her farewell."

I moved between Gaara and Kakashi and took both of their hands, Gaara took Naruto's, Naruto took Kankuro, Kankuro and Temari.. Everyone held hands and shut their eyes as we all sang out a silent prayer to help our grandmother find peace at the end of her life.


	14. Homecoming in the Sand!

  
  
  


We wrapped lady Chiyo's body, and put up a rough stone monument where she had passed. We would send out a masonry team to give her a proper memorial when we got back to the village.

I looked around at the resting shinobi who had spent the day battling to save my brother, I didn't have the words to thank them but I did my best. Naruto was sitting next to where Gaara lay in a bed roll, telling him all about his journey with the Toad Sage. I didn't want to disturb them so I turned my attention to Kakashi.

The Copy Ninja was weak, he barely had the strength to hold himself up now. I went to him and sat down, pulling his hand into mine and beginning to share my chakra the way he had once done for me.

"You kept your promise." I smiled at him, gently pulling his headband down to cover his sharingan.

"It wasn't me.." He rasped, nodding to the memorial and then to Naruto.

I sighed softly, bringing his hand up to press my cheek against it. "You don't get like this by sitting back and watching."

We hadn't slept for long, just a few hours when Kankuro announced we needed to get home in case someone came looking for us. He and Naruto got Gaara on his feet, both of them supporting his weight and helping him to walk. When Gai came to get Kakashi, we did the same.

I couldn't harbor any spite for this strange man, not when I saw how careful he was with Kakashi. "Thank you, Mr. Eyebrows."

Gai looked at me, surprised but then gave me a toothy grin and nodded. "Gotta keep my rival at his best, Lady Kairi."

We walked back, it was slow but we made it just as the sun was coming up behind us. In the sliver of light I could see figures lining the walls of the village.

"It's everyone.." Temari was shocked.

A few others commented about the crowd and I saw the smile rise on Gaara's face. He was now beloved.

Baki ran out with some others to meet us, he wasn't fully able to mask how happy he was to see Gaara alive.

The villagers spread aside, forming a path to the village for the hero's walk. Gaara shook his head and said something to Kankuro and they moved aside, into the crowd. I looked at where he was staring, Lady Chiyo's body being carried back. I smiled, proud of him. Gai and I maneuvered Kakashi out of the way as the others did the same, allowing her body to be carried down the hero's walk where she received a moment of silence from the entire village.

\--

Gaara sat at his desk as we entered the room, Baki was on his left and our siblings his right. He looked so strong behind the Kazekage desk that I bit back a smile as Gai and I steadied Kakashi in front of him. I bowed from under his arm and took my place next to my siblings as the Konoha teams announced their departure.

I raised my eyebrows, it had only been a few hours and they had barely rested. Kakashi didn't look like he would make the journey.

"What? You're leaving already? You can stay a little longer c'mon!"

"Kankuro is right, at least a day or two." Temari added. "You need time to rest."

I gazed at Gai and Kakashi as the discussion broke out, narrowing my brows as I tried to understand why they would want to leave us already.

He was worried about the Akatsuki now, how close they were getting to Konohagakure. Gai said he would get him home safely but it didn't sit right in my stomach.

I went to protest but Temari grabbed my hand, giving it a squeeze and shaking her head slightly. She was right, this wasn't my place to intervene it was Gaara's office.

We said our goodbyes at the gates of the village, sand shinobi and leaf shinobi with a new bond between them. Watched as Gaara forced Naruto to shake his hand and smiled to myself, I'd never gotten to tell the brat he was precious to my brother but now I believed he knew that.

I said an awkward goodbye to Kakashi in front of everyone, he was still weak from the fight and I wanted him to stay.. But he gave me that half smile that had me smiling back and promised me he would be okay.

\--

"Would you get off of me?" Gaara growled as I hugged him for the hundredth time since we got back to the village.

"I am just so happy." I gave him an apologetic smile once I had let him go and sat back down at the table.

"We all are but you don't have to smother him." Temari groaned and I glared at her.

"Yes Kairi, you have other things to worry about." Baki chimed in and I saw a smirk rise on Kankuro's face that made me suspicious.

"Right, another mission." I tried, nodding.

"No." Baki growled. "You have been avoiding me for two days since you got back.. We are going to see Elder Hanami."

I groaned, face planting the table so hard that it rocked my skull.

"I am sorry Baki, that will have to wait." The Kazekage commanded and Baki and I both stared at him. "I do have a mission for my sister."

"Oh?" We said in unison, sharing our surprise.

Gaara nodded, with a secret smile. "Lady Kairi is ambassador to Lady Hokage.. After everything that has happened, I feel that it would be best to send her back to Konohagakure to report in."

My jaw dropped, Temari reached over and pushed my mouth shut.

Gaara gave me a sidelong glance, raising an eyebrow. "Unless you don't want to go back?"

I stared at his smugly amused face, my head racing. Go back to Konohagakure? Part of me was jumping up and down dancing and the other was pouting. I'd been smothering him as Temari had said, and now he was sending me away to get some space.. But I could see Kakashi again.. We could clear things up, maybe even start over.

"I guess she doesn't wanna go." Kankuro gave a lazy sigh, watching my face for a reaction.

I ignored his bait, turning my attention to Gaara. "I just lost you.. There was nothing I could do, I can not let that happen again."

"I am no longer a jinchuuriki." He reminded me, his face a stone so I couldn't tell how he felt about that. "The akatsuki are after Naruto now and I would feel better having you close to him."

I went to object again but Gaara held his hand up to silence me, and then squared his eyes on my own as they softened a little. "Kairi.. If we have learned anything from this.. It should be that life is short and often unfair.. Those who are precious to you could be taken away in an instant."

I nodded with a small smile, understanding what he was trying to tell me. "Thank you, Kazekage."

"I love you, Kai." He'd said it so few times before, it still brought tears to my eyes.


	15. Homecoming in the Leaf. -Part 2, Belonging.-

  
  
  
  


I should have known Gaara wasn't going to let me travel on my own, but I had to be grateful that he didn't send Sora and Kuru with me. Baki and Kankuro and brought me all the way to the gates of the village. Izumo and Kotetsu, the Konohagakure gate keepers had almost jumped out of their seats when they saw us. "Sand siblings!"

I raised my eyebrows at them, unsure of their excitement.

"Hey guys!" Kankuro greeted them, heading off to chat.

"What the hell is that about?"

Baki gave a half laugh from beside me, crossing his arms as we watched Kankuro. "Don't you remember? Your siblings helped this village out."

"I guess it is just weird to see them so welcoming to us, after Orochimaru..." I sighed, but smiling nonetheless.

"The only one in danger here is you." Baki had moved closer to me, lowering his tone to a whisper. He continued when I looked up at him, shocked. "You don't think that old man Danzo harbours grudges?"

I hadn't thought of him in so long, I hadn't thought of anything about the Root past my psychological training. Officially it had been dissolved, it didn't exist anymore but I knew better. "You think they will attack me?"

"I just think you should be careful, stay close to Lady Tsunade and Kakashi Hatake if you're going to stay here." Baki smiled, trying to put my mind at ease while keeping me cautious. "Gaara is very different than Rasa, but he would still start a war over you."

I smiled a little, then it faded. Honestly, I didn't know if Gaara would go against Naruto if it came down to it.

"Kankuro! IS THAT YOU? GET BACK HERE YOU SLIME BAG!!"

Kankuro ran back to Baki and I, wrapping his arm around me in a quick hug before he darted out the gates, pursued by a brown haired girl. "I LOVE YOU KAI GOTTA GO!"

Baki and I exchanged a look and burst out in laughter.

"Come home soon." His face had a hint of seriousness.

"So you can marry me off?" I grinned.

He shook his head, with a roll of his eyes. "I miss you when you are gone." He said, pulling me into a hug.

I hugged him back tightly, and whispered something I had always felt but had never said out loud. "I miss you too, dad."

He pulled back from the hug, and I could tell he had been taken by surprise. There was pride in his eyes, but I also knew how deeply he was loyal to Rasa and that must have felt like a betrayal. "Take care of yourself." He nodded and then disappeared after Kankuro.

"No way! Kairi is that you?"

I looked towards the village to see who called my name and practically screamed out "Asuma!"

I ran to the Jounin, and he crouched down and held his arms out. I couldn't help but laugh as I jumped at him, knocking him backwards into the dirt. During the last week I had spent in Konohagakure, when they weren't out on a mission Asuma and Kurenai had come to visit me in the hospital.

Asuma stood up, still hugging me and carried me into a shop he had apparently just come out of. "Hey, Kurenai... I found a stray!"

I saw her turn away from some flowers she was looking at, and those red eyes of hers lit up as she saw me. "Kairi!"

I struggled free from Asuma's bear like hug and ran to her, wrapping her up in my arms as I hugged her. "I've missed you."

"I missed you too kid!" She smiled, pulling away so she could look at me "You're all grown up on me."

"Oh come on, I haven't changed that much."

They brought me to Ichiraku Ramen for lunch and I realised that for all the times I'd come here to spy on Naruto I'd never tried it. They filled me in on their lives as I ate, not much had changed with their relationship they were still keeping the worst kept secret in history.

Asuma lit a cigarette outside the shop when we were finished and fixed a serious gaze on me. "Have you seen him yet?"

"You haven't?" I asked, surprised Kakashi hadn't filled them in yet.

"We haven't been able to visit, Gai took him straight to the hospital when they got back.." Kurenai said softly, looking up at the building in question.

"The hospital? He's still in there?" I felt my own concern growing. "I guess I didn't realise how bad off he was.."

"So you did see him?"

I nodded to Asuma. "When he saved Gaara."

He raised an eyebrow, looking like he was about to ask how it went but Kurenai stepped in front of him. "They haven't let visitors in, just Lady Hokage.. But his room is the third window from the left on the second floor."

I smiled at her and gave her a quick nod. "I'll.. Uh, I'll catch up with you guys okay?"

"Uhuh.." Asuma laughed, dropping an arm around Kurenai as they left the other way.

I ran off towards the hospital, following Kurenai's directions to the window. I paused outside, trying to think of something to say once I made myself known.

"You can't sneak up on me.." His voice was raspy, but he sounded amused.

I dropped into the window and sat on the sill, smiling like a cat who had caught a mouse even though he had spoiled my surprise.

"Kairi.." He coughed a little, throwing his sheets back to expose the tight black sleeveless shirt he wore, the one that connected to the mask on his face.

I stopped smiling as I watched him try to sit up, winced as he groaned in pain and began to cough again. I shot from the window to his bedside, my hands on his shoulders gently trying to get him to lay back down. "Hey.. Just rest okay?"

He did as I asked, laying back in the bed but didn't look happy about it. He looked exhausted, I'd never expected he would be out for more than a day.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, shifting so that I could sit on the edge of his bed.

I smiled, taking his offer and sitting down. "Gaara wants me to be here, in case the Akatsuki come after Naruto."

He nodded, and then winced a little. It seemed like he was just in constant pain. I reached out to brush some hair out of his eyes as he closed them. It wasn't long before he was lightly snoring.

I was beyond tired from the journey but I hadn't gone to see Tsunade yet and I didn't know where I would be staying. I sighed, his room was about the same as the one I had been in when I was weakened by the curse mark. Just one bed, a delux suit. I slowly moved off his bed, careful not to wake him and dug some extra pillows and blankets out of the cabinet by the door.

I layed out a makeshift bed on the floor below the cot he slept on, packing in with the annoyingly thin hospital pillows so I wouldn't have to lay on the hard floor and spent the night.


	16. Begin Again.

  
  
  


Kakashi heard a soft groan and his eyes shot open, wondering who could be in his hospital room. He leaned over the edge of his bed, examining where the noise had come from and his eyes shot open. "Kairi?"

He thought it had been a dream, seeing her try to sneak into the hospital. He had to blink a few times to realise he was awake.

She flinched at first, but then her sleepy eyes opened more and she stared at his face with a lazy smile. It was such a relaxed look, he didn't think he'd ever see it on her face. "Good morning."

"What are you doing here?" He asked, laying back down to relieve some of the pain. He was so worn out, his body so full of aches. He reminded himself he would have to be more careful with his new sharingan.

She stood up now, rubbing her legs. He didn't blame her for being sore, sleeping on the hospital floor like that. "I already told you, Gaara sent me.."

He nodded, he remembered that much. "I meant.. Sleeping on the floor in my hospital room."

She stopped stretching long enough to look at him, a hint of pain in her eyes. "Sorry.. I didn't think you would mind."

Dammit, stop saying stupid stuff. "I-I don't.. It was just a surprise"

Kairi sighed softly, her stomach growling. "I'm going to see what I can find for breakfast, would you like some."

It was his stomachs turn to announce itself now, a loud, low rumbling. He sighed, explaining what the nurse had said. "They won't let me have solid food until I have full use of my arms and legs again."

Kairi nodded slightly, and then smiled and headed back out the window. "Be right back!"

When she left, Kakashi eyed the pile of books Jiraiya had brought him as a get well gift. He groaned, happy she hadn't seen them and pressed the button to summon a nurse.

The nurse poked her head in the door, blue hair piled high on top of her head. "Yes, Kakashi?"

He sighed, he didn't want to ask this but he figured it was better to deal with this nurse than it would be to explain himself to Kairi. "Would you be able to put these books away, and help me sit up?"

The nurse nodded and did as he asked, vanishing out the door just before Kairi reappeared at the window, two takeout bags and a tray of coffee in her hands. "Oh you're up?" She asked, her eyebrows raised. "You could barely sit up last night.."

"I'm fine." He gave her a reassuring smile and then nodded to the bags she held "That smells amazing.."

She smiled sweetly, crossing the floor to his bed where he had scootched over a little to give her room to sit if she wanted to.

Kairi sat down, pulling a bowl from one of the bags and popping the lid off of it to reveal a soup, an amazing smelling soup with what looked like angel hair noodles and some shrimp. "If you cannot use your own arms, you can use mine."

He watched as she broke the chopsticks with her teeth and piled a little bit of everything onto the spoon full of broth. She blew on it lightly until the steam stopped, and then held it up to him.

Kakashi gave her a skeptical look, but when she nodded to the spoon he smiled and pulled his mask down a bit so he could take the bite. Kairi kept her eyes on the bowl so she wouldn't see his face and he pulled his mask back up. He wasn't as worried as he used to be about her seeing him, but it still made him nervous.

She repeated the gesture until the soup bowl was empty and his stomach satisfied. It was much better than the liquid sludge the hospital had been feeding him. "Thank you for the food." He bowed his head to her as she ate a few bites of her own.

She gave him a sad smile, putting the food dishes away and getting out the coffee. "It's the least I can do after what you and your team did for my village."

She stuck a straw in the coffee for him and held it out where he could sip from it. "I saw Asuma and Kurenai on my way in, they are worried about you.. Said that they weren't allowed in to visit."

Kakashi nodded "I had to debrief from my mission, and fill in the new captain of Team Kakashi."

"New captain?"

"Well, I can't exactly be captain from a hospital bed." Kakashi laughed a little, and then winced at the pain.

"You should get some more rest."

He groaned, all he had been doing is resting. He was already sick of laying here after three days. She was right though, it had taken a lot out of him just to stay sitting up for this long. "What will you do?"

"I need to go and visit Lady Hokage, to report in."

He nodded and let her help him get back down into his bed, she pulled the sheets up over him like she had for Kankuro and turned to leave. "Kairi?"

She looked back at him, a small smile that he was becoming used to seeing on her face. "Mhmm?"

"I'm so sorry."

"Stop." She shushed him, climbing up into the window. "We will start over, when I get back."

And she was gone.

\---

I made my way through the village, thinking everything over. I wasn't sure how Kakashi and I would start over, not with all that had happened. I'd been lost and he had brought me back.. What had I given him in return? Not even a chance when I thought he had betrayed me.

 _'You and I are no good to each other..'_ It had stung when he said it, as if he had no use for me. I had told him that she hated him though, perhaps I deserved his harshness.

Temari was right though, he had told saved us from Gaara. He wasn't out to kill my little brother, but to stop him from killing me.

I had to shove the thoughts out of my head, fighting away that stupid voice that told me I was annoying and useless. We would start over, and if all he wanted to be was a friend to me than I would accept it.

I pushed my way into the Hokage building, smiling to Shizune as she greeted me. "Lady Kairi! You're back? It's so good to see you!"

"It's good to see you too, is Lady Tsunade here?"

Shizune flinched a little but nodded. "She's been dealing with some things but I am sure she will be pleased to see you."

I let the Hokage's assistant lead me to the double wooden doors of her office, and stepped inside behind her when she opened them.

"What now?" Tsunade growled, but her face softened when she looked up. "Kairi! I am glad to see you are safe."

I bowed my head to her. "Lady Hokage, the Kazekage has sent me to assist with protecting Naruto."

"Well... We better go get a drink while we catch up." She smiled wickedly at Shizune's disapproving face and then crossed the room and took my arm to lead me out.


	17. Liquid Courage.

  
  
  


Tsunade and I sat across from each other at one of the shadier establishments in the village hidden in the leaves. She poured two drinks and slid one towards me. I eyed it skeptically, I'd never had a real drink before. "So Naruto and Sakura have gone to meet this... Contact?"

She remained quiet as she held up her glass to me.

I sighed softly, about to protest when she cut me off.

"Here's to cutting all bonds with the Foundation and becoming human again."

I smiled, she knew we weren't allowed to drink. Her cheers worked though, I picked up my glass and touched it to hers and then took a sip.

It burned, it was horrible. I started coughing and sat the shot back down, rubbing my throat as I stared at her wondering if she was trying to poison me.

Tsunade burst out laughing and took my glass off the table. "You aren't doing it right!" She explained, tipping the whole thing into her mouth at once.

I stared at her in shock and a little bit of horror as she refilled the glasses and again slid one over in front of me. "Lady Tsunade.. Shouldn't we discuss.."

"Not until you are relaxed!" She nodded at the drink.

I sighed, picking the small glass up in my hands and sizing it up with my eyes deciding that I was Kairi of the Iron Sand and I would not be defeated by some fermented rice water. I tipped the glass the same way she had and let it burn its way down my throat.

"Atta girl!" The Hokage complimented, slamming her empty glass down.

I rasped, trying to push through the feeling of choking. "I thought people sipped this stuff warm?"

"Where is the fun in that?" She refilled the glasses.

Tsunade filled me in on the new team Kakashi and their current mission. She told me it wouldn't do me any good to go out after Naruto right now, but she would make sure I knew as soon as he came back to the village.

"Kairi, do you know anyone in the Foundation called Sai?" She asked, her face turning serious.

I drained my fourth shot, it got easier with each one. It almost felt like a pleasant warmth instead of a horrible burning. "Sai? No.. Nobody by that code name when I was there."

She nodded and sighed a little. "We have kept your apartment the way you left it.. If Naruto didn't make too much of a mess in there since he got back."

I grinned, unable to tell why I was so happy to hear that I would still be living with Naruto. "Thank you, Lady Hokage." I hiccupped a little.

Tsunade filled her own glass again, and not mine. I pouted a little, enjoying the swirl inside my head. "You should go sleep this off.." She warned.

"Wait.. Lady Tsunade.. What happened to Rin?" I asked softly, it came out in a rush.

She gazed at me for a moment, her face turned sad and she looked out the window towards the hospital. "You'll have to ask him that, it isn't my story to tell you.."

I nodded, slightly disappointed.

The walk back to the hospital took longer than it should have because I was so caught up in my head. It was swirling with the feeling from the drinks, such an unfamiliar feeling to me.

I nearly fell as I climbed the side of the hospital roof, and I dropped into Kakashi's room still giggling.

The copy ninja was sitting upright in his bed again, one eyebrow raised as he watched me trip over the bed I'd laid out on the floor the night before. "Bonding with the Hokage huh?" He asked in his irritating flat tone.

I stumbled to the bed, and pulled myself up onto it ignoring his question. He pulled back his legs with a bit of a wince so I could sit on his bed cross legged facing him. I didn't want to waste the courage the alcohol had given me. "Hello, my name is Kairi Kazekage."

He looked utterly and comically confused at me.

"We said we were going to start over.."

"No, you said that." He smiled now, clearly amused with me. "I don't want to start over."

It was my turn to be confused, and slightly hurt.

"Don't take it that way.." He reached out to touch my face, and I smiled seeing that he was able to move his arms after what he had said earlier. "I don't want to forget what happened.."

I tilted my head slightly, letting out a hiccup.

He laughed, that laugh I hadn't heard in a while. It was the real laugh that came out when we were in my room, when everything felt less awkward. "Let's just move on from it?"

I nodded slowly, and then groaned as my stomach hurt. "I need to lay down.."

He moved over and patted the bed beside him. Without thinking I crawled forwards, laying down as he did. He let me lay on his arm and pulled me towards his chest. "How much did she make you drink?"

I scrunched up my face, trying to remember. "I think four.."

I felt him laugh more than I heard him, and he shook his head. "You wouldn't keep up with us."

I smiled, remembering the only time I had seen him intoxicated.

"Can't help but compare this with that night.." He said softly, he'd been thinking the same thing. "Except I had more like four bottles."

I bit my lip, even after these years I still remembered the way his lips had burned against mine.. The way he smelled and how it took over my senses. I sat up a little, longing for that feeling as I stared into his eyes.

He watched me with his sharingan closed, that slate grey eye studying my face as he leaned forward a little. He sighed though, and turned his face away from mine as he pulled me back against his chest. "Not like this.."

That hurt, I bit back the pain and kept it from showing on my face as I laid back down. We were quiet for a few minutes before I just blurted out the question that had been bothering me so much. "How did Rin die?"

"I killed her."

I felt a shudder move through my spine, his voice was so flat as he said it. My head swirled along with my stomach and I thought I would get sick but I forced it down as he spoke again, refusing to look at me.

"She was taken by another village, they were going to extract the tailed beast from her."

"She was a jinchuuriki?"

He nodded.

"So you killed her.. So they couldn't take the beast?" I couldn't picture him doing something like that, but he'd once been ready to kill me.

"I used a jutsu that I had just perfected.. I was aiming for the enemy.." His words choked a little in his throat. "Rin.. She stepped in front of me."

The lightning jutsu he had been using in the forest that night.. I thought of the way I had stepped in front of him to push Gaara out of the way.. Now I really felt sick, I hadn't meant to put him through that kind of pain again.

"Who told you about her?" He asked, his breath against my hair.

"Temari.." I felt like I was telling on her, but I wanted to be honest because he was being honest. "So that night..?"

He nodded, and then yawned softly. "Sleep it off, Kairi."

I tried to tell him how sorry I was but he didn't answer, I supposed he fell asleep so I did as well. I felt like I could get used to sleeping like this, in his arms.


	18. Progress.

  
  
  
  


I felt my hair move as I was waking up, and rolled over ending up face to face with the copy ninja. He seemed to be still sleeping, his eyes were closed and his face looked peaceful. I gently reached up and moved some of that silver hair away from his face so I could look at the scar.

"Good morning." He murmured, not opening his eyes or stopping me.

I smiled, pulling my hand away and propping my head up on my elbow. "Hey.." My eyes rested on the Anbu tattoo on his shoulder, and I couldn't help but reach out and trace the design.

He opened his eye now, watching my face before he yawned while trying to talk. "That feels nice.."

I kept doing it for a little while, until my bladder forced me to get up. When I came back out of the bathroom he was fully awake and rolling his shoulders like he was trying to work out a knot in his muscles. "Getting restless?"

"I hate laying in bed all day.." He nodded, looking up to me.

I got an idea and couldn't hide the mischievous smile that came. "I'm going to get breakfast!" I left the room before he could question me.

I decided since he had done well with the soup, I would get him some real breakfast today.

\--

Kakashi had about half an hour to himself, just laying on the hospital cot contemplating the previous night. Kairi had looked like she was about to try and kiss him again, and he'd fought with his resolve about it. He didn't want to make her feel like he was trying to take advantage of her.

Kairi came back into the room, through the door this time which surprised him. She was carrying a rather large box, and she set it on the table across the room. He watched her as she hummed to herself, seeming to ignore his presence but she still had that smile like she was up to something.

She laid a spread out on the table that made his stomach growl like a wild animal. Broiled fish, fresh salad, boiled eggs, toast.. It went on and on as she pulled things from the box.

"Is that for us?" He asked hopefully.

"Yes.." She grinned, looking sideways at him as she set the table.

He wondered if she was going to make him a plate and bring it over. He didn't want to let her feed him again, that had been slightly embarrassing but he'd been so hungry. He raised his eyebrows as he watched her walk towards him, empty handed.

"I'm used to family breakfasts now.. You're not going to make me sit there and eat alone are you?" She asked, sly smile making her look devious.. Yet, attractive in a way he hadn't seen from her before.

"I'm not supposed to get out of bed.." He sighed, looking longingly at the food.

"And you weren't supposed to take me on that mission." She giggled, she meant it light hearted but it stung. He'd taken her with him to Orochimaru's and she still bore the curse mark from when he'd lost her there.

"Stop pouting, Kakashi." She reached out to him, helping him sit up. "All I remember about that day is watching the sunset with you, and waking up in your arms."

He smiled, remembering that too. He moved himself into a sitting position, it was getting easier now. He gazed up at her face in confusion as she reached her arms out to him, but he took her hands and allowed her to help him up from the bed. "What are you doing?"

Kairi pulled him to his feet, and when his knees tried to give out she caught him. She had become stronger, she held him up easily without having to sacrifice his dignity. "Helping you recover."

He smiled, steadying himself now that he was standing. He had refused to put on the hospital clothes and instead had Tsunade bring him his own. He was wearing his mask, the one that connected to his shirt and a pair of loose training pants that were comfortable. He didn't miss that her eyes fell to his chest, or how they widened as she took in the muscles that were usually covered by his sweaters.

She helped him walk, as slowly as he needed over to the table. She'd turned around after she had let him steady himself and he'd placed his hands on her shoulders in case his legs gave out. One step at a time he made it to the table and they both sat down.

He ate hungrily, happy with his reward for getting out of bed. He was eating so quickly that she began to giggle. "You really are Naruto's Sensei huh?"

He blushed and nodded, slowing his pace a little. "So, are you going to nurse me all week?"

She turned her eyes to his, amused. "Well, I could go stay at my apartment if you would rather be alone and eat hospital slop."

"No." He said it too quickly and was embarrassed. He rubbed the back of his neck and gave her his nervous smile. "I mean.. I get pretty bored."

"Well, I am just kind of hanging out until Naruto gets back to the village anyway.. So I figured I could help you, I owe a lot to you." She bowed her head to him, a silent thank you.

"You don't owe me anything.." He sighed, finishing the last of his salad.

She'd been the first one he had felt like he could open up to. He had been lost before team seven, and if they had brought him purpose, she had brought him light.

He managed to get back into bed on his own as Kairi cleaned up their dishes, he wanted to help her but he was once again exhausted. This was even worse than recovering from Itachi's genjutsu, he hadn't tried to use his new sharingan so much before.

A nurse knocked at the door just as Kairi finished cleaning up. She pushed it open before he'd even called for her to come in. "Kakashi, it is time for your bath."

"I can help him with tha--"

"No!" Kakashi burst, not able to bare the idea of Kairi seeing him so vulnerable and helpless.

"Oh.." She said softly, her feelings obviously hurt.

He sighed, trying to find words. "That's a little personal.."

She nodded, an embarrassed smile crossing her face as she realised what she had offered. "I'll go find Asuma and Kurenai and bring them by to visit when you are done."

He nodded to her, laughing as she went to leave from the window and got in trouble with his nurse.  
  
  
  



	19. Village Life.

  
  
  
  
  


It was easy enough to find the couple, I had only checked a couple places before finding out that they had booked out Training Fields 18 and 19 with their teams. I also noticed that Gai had 16 booked, and I hadn't got to really meet any of his team yet.

"Hey Mr. Eyebrows." I nodded to him as I walked up, smiling. "Looks like Lee is getting better."

He turned towards me with a bright smile as he gave me a thumbs up. "He's worked hard!"

I watched the bushy brow clone take on Neji Hyuga in a spar, amazed at their quick movements. "I can't believe he's doing so well up against a byakugan without ninjutsu."

"Hey, if it isn't the Sand Princess back in the Leaf village!" Ino called to me once she recognized me. "Wow, you have changed a lot!"

 _Me? Ino looked incredible._ "You too!"

"Kairi is here?" A small voice barely carried over to us and I looked to find who it was coming from..

Hinata.. If she didn't have her Byakugan I probably would never have recognized her.. She was so pretty.

The others decided to take a break too, seeming to gather around me, those I knew were happy to see me. I didn't get this kind of reception back home in the Sand... I didn't have friends there.

"Wow, you look great, it's good to see yah again!"

I didn't know this boy at all, he was tall and lean with short brown hair. He must have seen the confusion on my face because he started laughing.

"Ya, I guess you're used to me in my coat... Maybe you will remember this guy.." He gave a loud whistle and a huge white dog came running out of the forest.

My eyes widened as I got a flash of a memory, back in my apartment when Naruto had his friends over.. "No way, is that Akamaru!?"

The dog bounded to a halt at the boys side. "I figured you would." Kiba laughed, patting Akamaru's head. "I'd never seen him sit in anyone else's lap before.."

"Guys don't crowd her, that's such a drag."

"Hey Shikamaru, it's okay... I'm happy to see them too!"

On their break I caught up with my old friends, and met their teammates. On Asuma's team was Shikamaru, a sweet guy named Choji and Ino.. With Kurenai, there was Hinata, Kiba and that bug boy Kakashi had mentioned years ago.. Shino... And Gai had Lee, Neji and a girl named Tenten.

After visiting for a while, the team captains and I headed back to Kakashi's room as I'd promised him. Kiba had asked to tag along, but Asuma had shut him down and Kurenai asked him to keep working on his new technique with Akamaru.

"Hey old man how ya feeling?" Asuma asked, entering the room without knocking.

"Heh, Hey guys." Kakashi nodded to us, struggling to sit up.

Kurenai and I ran to his side to help him, he looked weaker than when I had left earlier.. I guess making him walk, and then the strain of his bath had really done a number.

He waved us off once we had gotten him upright, no doubt trying to look stronger in front of Gai. I shook my head, noting that Kurenai did the same and then we both laughed.

It sure felt good to be home.

_**Home?** Wait, what?_

\-----------

Another few days passed with Kakashi, each morning I would get him up and moving a little, rewarding him with his favorite foods. Sometimes I'd venture out into the village to visit with my other friends.. I had friends now.. Sometimes I would spend the day with him, the nurses let us have a wheelchair once they saw his strength returning and that thing was heaven sent.

"You're never going to catch anything like that." Kakashi grumbled at me as I jerked the fishing pole I was holding up and down in the water. "Think of the way a fish swims.."

I glared over at where he was sat by the riverbank, wondering why the hell I had agreed to letting him teach me how to fish.

This was painful, it took forever to even get something interested in my bait, and then when I went to reel it in it just let go..

"When they tug you need to give it a quick pull, not to hard.".. _.yeah, great advice Kakashi_... I almost got a hook stuck in my ear.

"If you're going to micromanage then you do it!" I huffed, pulling the line back and dropping the whole contraption in his lap.

He grinned, it made his grey eye light up and I couldn't help but smile back. He got some fresh bait, threw his cast -which even from his wheelchair was more impressive than mine had been--and brought back a nice sized fish in only a few minutes.

"How the hell?!" I asked in awe of him, we had already been out here for like an hour and I'd only caught a clump of seaweed.

Kakashi chuckled, it was nice to hear. "Come here." He gestured as he put his book away and moved some things off his lap. "Take the fishing rod."

I moved closer to him curiously, taking it from his hands.

"Closer." He said flatly.

I stared blankly at him, I was right next to his wheelchair and I didn't see how I could get closer. "How do--"

Kakashi grabbed me by the hips and pulled me onto his lap in one, quick, fluid motion. I sat in shock, my back against his chest as he went on with positioning my arms and the fishing rod the way he had been trying to teach me. "Doesn't that feel more natural?"

"Um." I managed dumbly. He had caught me so off guard I'm not sure my mind had caught up yet.

"When you cast, you need to keep your arms loose and your hands tight." He was speaking to me over my shoulder, and his breath was heating my neck and ear in a way that sent goosebumps up my arms.

I managed to nod slightly.

"Try it now." He sounded completely normal, and yet I was almost catatonic.

I tried, I really tried.. But I was so distracted.. The line barely made it over our heads, landing in the shallow waters only a few feet away.

The copy ninja's responding laughter made me want to shrink into my own skin.

"Here, let me help." He placed his hands over mine, drawing our arms back together before flicking my wrists and the fishing line forwards.

Once the line hit the water, -a good distance away this time- Kakashi relaxed his grip on me and leaned his chin on my shoulder. "I really did miss you.."

It took me a moment to find words, as much as we had bonded over the last week or so that I had been back, we hadn't been close like this again since that night I'd gone out drinking with Tsunade. "I missed you too." I admitted softly.

His nurse hadn't taken long to catch on that I was sleeping on the floor in his hospital room, and she'd responded by having them move a second cot into the room.

"I tried to write to you.."

"I never got anything." I said quickly, possibly revealing that I had been hoping for a carrier pigeon most days.

"I could never find the words.."

I nodded slightly, and was about to ask him what he had written to me when I felt a sudden, strong tug on the other end of the fishing line. "I got a bite!" I bounced off his lap in a panic.

"Pull back!" He instructed. "Sink the hook."

I did as he told me, gentler than I had before... And with a little bit of a fight, I ended up bringing in a fish the size of my arm.

"I did it!" I squealed happily, dropping the rod in excitement before I'd even got the fish off the hook. Without thinking I spun, nearly jumping on the wounded shinobi. "I got a fish!"

Kakashi grunted in pain, but he was laughing as he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into his lap again for a hug. "You had a fish.." He corrected.

I turned my head to look back at where my fish had been, only to see it dragging the fishing pole back into the river. "Oops.."

We both broke out in laughter, it only seemed to fade when we realised our closeness.

I gazed at his grey eye, taking in the way the light fractured amongst the many shades of light and dark that made up the shining silver color. He slowly reached to my face, brushing my hair back from my own eyes and then, he pressed the fabric of his mask to my forehead.

"Ah, there you two are!"

We both jumped at the woman's voice, and I went to stand up to greet the Hokage properly but Kakashi pulled me back against him. "Yo, Lady Tsunade."

"Hello, Lady Hokage."

She waved her hand dismissively, silently telling us to 'Can it with the formalities already.' "I am glad to see that you two are getting close again."

She and Kakashi exchanged a look that told me there was more to this story, and he gave her a quick nod.

"Lady Kairi, I was hoping you would take on a mission for me?" She asked, showing me a scroll in her hands.

"Please Tsunade, if I am to not address you by title, please show me the same courtesy." I asked as I stood, this time Kakashi let me go. "What is the mission?"

Tsunade gave me the mischievous grin she seemed to have mastered, and agreed no titles between us. "Alright Kairi, this isn't going to be the most ideal mission for you.. Do you remember Iruka Umino?"

I smiled, as much as I loved being here in the village I was craving a mission. "Of course I remember Iruka Sensei."

"Good, he has put in a request to take his class away from the village for a learning excursion.. Asuma Sarutobi and Team Ten will be going with them as protection.. But with everything going on..."

I nodded, without protest. "Of course Tsunade. I would be happy to go as one of your Anbu."

"Really?!" Kakashi and Tsunade both seemed surprised.

"No complaining about babysitting?" She raised her eyebrow suspiciously.

I shrugged slightly, turning to Kakashi. "You don't mind do you? You are already getting so strong.. And I'm just not used to sitting around a village like this."

"You're restless." He gave me a smile. "I am too, but I think I can take care of myself for a day or two.. Go on your mission."


	20. Class Trip.

  
  
  
  
  
  


I had to admit, for someone who was supposed to be prepared for a mission.. I was tired. Tsunade had taken Kakashi and I out for drinks last night, she said it was to celebrate my successful fishing adventure... But I was thinking the Hokage just liked to drink. I had been woken early by her snoring right next to my ear to find out that she had passed out on my cot in Kakashi's room.

Kakashi was sleeping so peacefully in his own bed that I hadn't wanted to bother him and to bring on his own hangover.. So I wrote him out a note, and stuck it to the wall on the other side of the room hoping he would have to get over there to read it.

**Kakashi,**

**Left early to meet the class and introduce myself before we leave today. Don't try to use your chakra by sending Bisuke, I'll be fine. Please try to keep exercising, and I've asked Hinata to drop food off for you.**

**See you soon!**

"He can read that from his bed with his sharingan." Iruka had pointed out when he picked me up.

"If he doesn't get out of that bed while I am gone, I'll beat him up."

Iruka laughed and shook his head, making my ego deflate. "So, Kairi.. Is it?"

I bit my lip and nodded. "Uh huh, sorry for lying to you before."

"That's okay!" He smiled. "I understand."

We talked about me for most of the walk to the school, filling him in on who I really was. He knew most of the details already from people around the village, but Iruka still seemed interested in hearing my side of it all.

"There you guys are!" Asuma's voice greeted us from the front doors of the school. "Your students have already arrived."

"Sorry." Iruka spoke. "Kairi had to leave a note for Kakashi Sensei."

I glared at him.

"It's alright." Asuma laughed. "How is he doing?"

"He's good, getting stronger every day!"

"Well, he does have you nursing him back to health." He messed with my hair, taking a drag of his smoke.

"Uncle Asuma!!" A small, brown haired boy was running up to us, flanked by two equally small children.

"Hey Konohamaru, Udon, Moegi! You're late!" Iruka scolded them.

"So are you Sensei." The lead boy, Konohamaru snapped back.

I snorted a laugh, and Asuma nudged me before he pushed my new Anbu mask down over my face.

I hadn't been able to stomach putting the cat mask back on, not now that I knew who and what Itachi truly was... So I had grabbed a dog mask, this too was purple.

"Alright, alright, is everyone here now?" Iruka asked, doing his head count.

"My team will meet us at the gates." Asuma nodded.

"Alright class listen up, our escorts on this trip with be Team Asuma, and this Anbu captain. You are to listen to them, and respect them, got it?"

"Yes Sensei."

"Alright, let's set out then."

\-----------------------------------

"Don't you have a name?" One of Iruka's students asked me as we walked.

"Of course she does, she's just not allowed to tell us." Another, Udon.

"Well if you won't tell us your name.. You're going to end up with a nickname." Konohamaru warned.

I heard Asuma snicker and turned to glare at him.

"I know!" A little girl with bright orange pigtails shouted out. "Let's call her Inu."

"That's a lame name!" Another shouted back. "You're not very creative Moegi."

"Hey I know!" Konohamaru again. "You have that gourd on your back like the Kazekage, let's call you Suna!"

Asuma and Iruka both laughed this time, but I was happy enough with it. "Suna it is then kid!"

It took us about half a day to get to our destination, The Valley of the End. Iruka had brought his class out here hoping that the massive statues would excite them to learn about the history.

"You better pay attention, kid." Asuma said, nudging me as the class sat down in the grass.

"Alright, who can tell me the name of this place?" Iruka asked once he had moved in front of the group.

"What a drag.." Shikamaru groaned from behind me.

"Whoa, you can still see the impact of the fight between Naruto and Sasuke!" Choji commented, drawing my attention.

Asuma shushed his team and forcefully turned my head back towards Iruka Sensei. "Pay attention you guys."

"But Asuma Sensei we already know about the Valley."

"I said pay attention Ino."

"It is called Shūmatsu no Tani" Udon spoke up from the class.

"Right!" Iruka grinned. "And does anyone know who the men depicted in the statue are?"

"That's Senju Hashirama!" Someone shouted, pointing to the one on the right.

"Good! And the other?" When nobody answered him this time, he went on.

"He is Uchiha Madara.. The founder of the Uchiha clan. These statues border the Land of Fire and the Land of Sound. Our founder, Hashirama and the Uchiha founder Madara both had their own ideas for the future of Konohagakure.."

I found myself sitting down in the grass, entranced by the story. So these were Tsunade and Itachi's ancestors?

"Once Hashirama became our first Hokage, a jealous Madara plotted to destroy the village. The battle that broke out between the two is what formed this valley!"

An eruption of astonishment broke out from the class, and I had to admit that I was in awe as I gazed at the massive ravine. There was no way a shinobi had this kind of power.

"So if Hashirama became the Hokage, what happened to Madara?" Moegi asked.

"Madara was defeated." Iruka said as softly as he could. "Alright, we have a few more hours before lights out... I want you guys to explore the valley and read the Konohagakure history chapter on this place.. There will be a quiz when we return to class."

Everyone nodded and started to wander off around the area. Team Asuma and I stood above the waterfalls, watching them.

"Asuma.. There isn't a jutsu this powerful is there?" I asked, pulling up my mask.

Asuma looked at his team, and then shook his head. "The legends say Madara used Kuruma, the Nine Tail Fox in this battle."

"But Iruka didn't - -"

"We don't really talk about the tailed beast in our village, it is a dark part of our history."

The way he said History, I understood.. His students didn't know about the Jinchuuriki either. "I see."

"Okay, well.. We can keep an eye from up here.. Ino, how about you help Iruka and Choji make supper? Shikamaru, do you still have that Shogi board?"

\----------------------------------

Shikamaru and Asuma taught me the strategy game the best they could, and we had set out to play 'winner takes all' but my game against Shikamaru had lasted all of ten minutes before I'd lost. The game between these two had been going on for over an hour.

"I'm bored." I complained.

Ino grumbled in agreement from behind me where she was braiding my hair.

"Missing Kakashi, huh?" Shikamaru gave me a side eye as he snatched one of Asuma's pieces from the board.

"What?!" Ino jumped. "You're back with Kakashi Sensei again?!"

Asuma and Shikamaru struggled to hold their laughter as I blushed. "I wasn't with him!"

"But you are now?!" Ino asked. "That's so weird, you're like my age and he's a Sensei.. A Jonin."

"Kairi is older than you, Ino." Shikamaru corrected. "She's a year older than Temari."

"And she's been an unofficial Jonin since she was what... Fourteen?" Asuma added.

I nodded, not knowing what to say.

"Wow, a Jonin at fourteen?!" Ino sounded stunned. "But that's even younger than you were Sensei!"

"Not quite as young as Kakashi was though." Asuma nodded. "So you can see why he would take an interest in an elite shinobi of a rival village..."

"Oh..That makes sense." Ino nodded.

"Still, they would make a great team." Asuma laughed and winked at me. "Kakashi is different around you."

"Sensei!" Shikamaru groaned. "Stop talking about girly stuff with them and pay attention."


	21. What goes around...

  
  
  


The mission was entirely uneventful, and after a full day and a night with all of these kids.. I was exhausted. I couldn't understand why Tsunade had wanted an Anbu escort to go along with the group when they already had Team Asuma.

I was so relieved to see the village gates when we got back, I practically ran to the desk to sign in.

"Hey Suna!" Konohamaru called out to me as Iruka walked them back to the school to be picked up. "You're the best! When I am Hokage I want you to be my personal guard okay?"

I laughed and waved at him, realizing he was like a tiny Naruto.

"Looks like you've made an impression on my nephew." Asuma laughed.

"He's a good kid." I smiled. "When he's not drawing on our faces while we sleep."

He groaned, rolling his eyes as he lit his first smoke in 24 hours. "Good thing I brought that soap."

He called over to Shikamaru and Choji who were at a snack stand, and waved Ino over from the gate where she was fixing a little girls hair. "Let's go pay Kakashi a visit."

Just hearing his name made me smile, and Asuma definitely noticed with the cheeky grin he gave me.

It was a pretty short walk to the hospital, I was trying not to bounce all the way over. It was strange, last time I'd been in this village everything had seemed so dark, so wrong.. It was different now, somehow..

"How are you feeling today Kakashi?" Asuma slid open the door to the room.

"Asuma Sensei! You really should try knocking first you know?" Ino scolded him.

"What's up guys?" Choji said through a mouthful of chips.

I tuned out, and my lighthearted mood vanished as I peeked around them and saw who was standing in Kakashi's room with Naruto and Sakura.

He had grown up as well over the last few years, but I recognized him just the same.. That dead, robotic expression that had always been on his face..

"Hello there." Riku said with a smile..

A smile? I'd never seen him smile in the few years I'd spent on Hex's team with him.

Kakashi noticed me glaring at the boy and raised a questioning eyebrow. I balled my hands into fists and shook my head.

Had Baki been right about Danzo wanting revenge? Was Riku here for me?

"My name is Sai, feel free to be casual." Riku spoke again, pulling me out of my own thoughts.

I'd briefly heard them talking about Naruto, Riku.. Well Sai.. And Shikamaru getting into a fight or something.. Apparently Ri- Sai was now a part of Team Kakashi.

My stomach turned.

I should be happy, Naruto is back again and Kakashi is in better shape then when I left.. But instead, my past had to come back up.

"Kairi, are you okay?" Kakashi asked me as Ino and Sakura whispered to each other about the new teammate.

I realised that everyone else had settled in around the room while I had stayed outside the doorway. I turned from Kakashi to Sai, who was now looking at me with the same confused look I was giving him.

I ignored him, going to stand by Kakashi's bedside without saying anything.

I heard Shikamaru comment on Naruto missing out on becoming a chunin again and tuned myself into their conversation.

"That's right." Naruto answered, bowing his head.

"Well, I guess that's the least of your problems." Shikamaru noted.

I stared at Naruto, he looked so defeated. I hated seeing that look on his face, he was an amazing Shinobi, even if he was still a genin.

"Why did you bring the whole gang in here of all places?" Kakashi asked Asuma. "This isn't a rec room you know."

The old me would have been hurt by this, I would have beaten myself up over it for a while..but that was another thing that seemed to be changing in me. I knew Kakashi enjoyed my company as much as I enjoyed his, and I knew him well enough now to know he didn't mean anything hurtful by it.

"You have a point." Asuma nodded, turning to look at everyone. "Why don't you guys head on over to the bar-bq restaurant, and Team Kakashi, you're more than welcome to join us if you'd like."

"Bar-bq? WHOO HOO!" Choji shouted.

"I second that!" Ino surprised everyone.

"I need to talk to Kakashi about some business." Asuma added. "In the meantime the Bar-bqs on me alright?"

I was pushed aside by Naruto at that point as he started asking Kakashi about some kind of training. He'd pushed me right into Riku.. I mean Sai... Who gave me one of his creepy smiles as I righted myself, to which I returned a glare.  
  
I went to leave with the teams, figuring I would corner this Sai and find out his and Danzo's plans.. But Kakashi called me back.

I turned back from the door, and Asuma who was sitting on Kakashi's bed gestured for me to close it. I waited until the group was far enough down the hall and shut the door.

"What was that all about?" Kakashi asked, his voice demanding an answer this time.

"He is a member of the Foundation." I said through clenched teeth.

"We know." Asuma nodded. "We are keeping an eye on him."

"But you know him too, don't you?" Kakashi asked.

"That is Riku." I nodded, narrowing my eyes at the floor. It had been a long time since I thought about Hex, all I knew for sure is that she had never come back from that mission. I'd had two dreams of her being in the Akatsuki now, but that wasn't enough for me to go accusing her..

But Riku was here... So where the hell was Hex?

Kakashi nodded, and filled Asuma in. "Riku was one of her teammates in the foundation, along with a member of Sunagakure's Anbu forces that had joined the foundation before Kairi."

"I see.." Asuma lit a cigarette. "Shaking up some old memories?"

I nodded as Kakashi complained about Asuma smoking in the room. The dark haired Jonin waved him off and walked over to the window to toss his smoke. "Word is things are really starting to heat up outside the village.."

This is what he had wanted to talk to Kakashi about, why he sent the team's away.. The Akatsuki. I moved to the chair that was now beside Kakashi's bed and sat down.

"I figured." Kakashi sighed, looking down.

I decided he was feeling the same way I was.. We'd been happy since I got back, been enjoying life the best we could with him recovering.. The Akatsuki had been far from my mind, but he knew it was going to come up again sooner than later.. And my bubble was burst once again.

Asuma went on. "As long as their objectives are the tailed beasts, we can be certain they will come here sooner or later.. They want Naruto."

My heart sank.

They had taken Gaara, and the only reason he was alive now was because Granny Chiyo had sacrificed her own life for his.. But the Akatsuki had taken what they wanted.. Itachi had taken what he wanted..

If they got ahold of Naruto too... I couldn't bare it.

The room to the door slid back open, and Shikamaru entered. "You guys don't have to leave me out of this... I am just as concerned about the Akatsuki as you are."

I had watched him leave, made sure they had left before I shut that door... But then again, this was Shikamaru.

He walked further into the room, keeping his tone professional. "And Naruto, is he going to be okay? What if those guys from the Akatsuki attack? Even Gaara couldn't --"

Survive..Gaara couldn't survive them. I bit my lip and looked at the ground, fighting back tears.

"You're right." Kakashi answered him. "He wouldn't be able to do it."

I think we were all surprised to hear him admit that.

"Well, not yet.." Kakashi added, causing us all to look up at him. "But I am going to start working harder on his training, I will get some help.. I will make sure he is ready."

"What kind of training could prepare him for this?" Shikamaru asked, skeptical.

"Anything is better than just rolling over and watching them take him." Asuma sighed. "That kid is a survivor."

"I.. I think I have a plan too."

They all turned to look at me, and I gave them a weak smile. "Granny Chiyo was a part of my village, a part of my bloodline.."

"Kairi.." Kakashi's voice caught, he already knew where I was going with this.


	22. I need you.

  
  
  
  
  


When Asuma and Shikamaru left, Kakashi and I got into a fight about what I was planning to do. It was the first fight we had, and it hurt.

"If I can learn Lady Chiyo's jutsu I can save Naruto!"

"By giving up your own life?" He scoffed. "Are you insane?"

"Naruto is going to be somebody, you know that!" I whimpered, pressing my forehead against the cool window.

"You think his life is worth more than yours?" He asked, the anger drained from his voice.

When I didn't answer him I heard him sigh, that's all I heard.. But he had gotten up and walked over to me all on his own. I felt him put a hand on my arm, and then he dropped it. "You think every life is worth more than yours?"

I swallowed hard, narrowing my eyes to try and hold my emotions down. "It doesn't matter."

"It does." He growled, grabbing my arm again and spinning me around to face him. "Kairi, you matter."

"His story is bigger than mine.." I failed at holding back the tears. "Gaara needs him."

He was silent for a while, just watching me cry. I couldn't look up at him right now, I just couldn't bring myself to see the look on his face. "You're needed."

I half laughed, shaking my head.

"I've been there Kai, I have felt this before.." He brushed a tear off my cheek. "those voices inside you, they lie."

"The world needs him." I choked out.

He sighed, frustrated that he wasn't getting through to me. He hit his fist against the window, not hard enough to break it, but it made me jump. "Dammit, I need you."

I looked up at him now, seeing my fears come alive at the tears on his face. "But I'm no--"

Kakashi was so quick when he wanted to be.. I hadn't even seen him pull his mask down.. But his lips were pressed against mine, he had one hand tangled in my hair and the other wrapped around me, holding me to him as he kissed me. This kiss was different than the ones we shared so long ago, this was urgent, frustrated and rough.

Once he'd realized what had happened he went to pull away but I grabbed his shirt and pulled him back to me, closing my eyes as I kissed him this time. He hesitated at first but he kissed me again.

My memories had not done justice to what it was truly like to kiss Kakashi Hatake, not by half. Every time we broke apart, my lips were left feeling swollen and stung, the way he smelled overtook me, I was both hyper aware and completely oblivious at the same time. I'd waited for so long to have a moment like this again.. And I wanted more.

"Kairi.." He breathed between kisses. The way he sounded, so rough.. It spread goosebumps across my skin.

I don't know what came over me in that moment.. I lifted myself into the window sill so that I could pull him closer, so I could feel his body against mine.. I opened my mouth to take a breath but his lips were right there again, his tongue touched mine softly at first, and then more confidently. I felt like I couldn't get enough.

Kakashi finally seemed to gain control of himself as he took my hands in his, pulling them away from his shirt as he pressed his lips to my forehead. "I am sorry.." He whispered, his breath against my face.

"Quit saying you're sorry.." I breathed, still trying to catch myself.

He kissed my forehead again, and then tucked his knuckle under my chin, lifting my head to look up at him.

My breath hitched in my throat and I was frozen in place.. He was staring at me with his own eye and his sharingan, a sly, victorious looking smirk lighting up his boyish face.. Holy shit..

I don't know what I was expecting to find under that mask.. But he was stunning to look at. His face was narrow but sculpted, with strong bone structure.. I couldn't get over how young he looked..

He pressed his lips once again to my forehead, still holding my hands in his.

"I won't let them take him.." He whispered softly. "And I won't lose you again.."

There was a knock at the door and Kakashi pulled his mask up, giving me another look that melted my insides before he let go of my hands and stepped away to a respectable distance. "Come in."

"Alright Kakashi..." Naruto was backing into the room, sounding like he was struggling with something. "I'm going to stay here until it's time for my training!"

Kakashi groaned, making his way back over to his bed as Naruto dragged in his pillow, blanket, and an overnight bag.

"Oh hey Kairi." Naruto smiled as he noticed me and set his stuff down. "Your hairs kind of messy."

I dove into the bathroom before my face could turn any redder.

When I came back from fixing my hair and splashing some cold water on my face, Kakashi was looking fully annoyed and Naruto had made himself comfy in the cot I'd been sleeping on.

Naruto smiled when he saw me. "Kairi, tell Kakashi Sensei that I am not an idiot."

I looked from him to Kakashi who was looking amused as he read his book.

"You guys are idiots." I laughed, earning a glare from both of them. "Naruto, are you not going to stay at our apartment?"

"Well you weren't there last night and I had a nightmare.. And I want to be ready as soon as Sensei is recovered to train me."

"Alright, movie night it is.. I am going to go find a tv.." I laughed, leaving before they could object.

I'd found a television on a rollable stand and stolen it for our room, I was discouraged to find that the only films there were medical documentaries.. I picked one about the medical possibilities of zombies and popped it in for the boys. We'd pooled all our pillows and blankets together on the floor, and it wasn't along before Naruto had put his own pillow on my lap and fallen asleep there. I gently brushed the brat's hair back from his face, smiling a little as I watched him sleep.

"That didn't take long.." Kakashi commented from where he was propped up against the wall.

"He must have been exhausted from their mission." I nodded, gently moving him off my lap.

Naruto slept like a rock, I was able to pick him up and carry him over to the cot that had been mine and he'd barely so much as twitched. I tucked him in, and gave him an extra pillow that he quickly grabbed onto and cuddled.

"Not so annoying when he's sleeping.." Kakashi laughed, he'd already stood up and was remaking his own bed.

"I'm going to go stay at the apartment tonight.." I said softly, looking out the window and up at the moon.

Kakashi looked at me, surprise in his eyes as he'd already added two pillows to his cot.

"I don't think I want to explain it to Naruto if he wakes up to us cuddling." I smirked, turning to him. "You didn't have that awkward conversation with Sakura.."

His laughter gave me butterflies. "Alright, alright.. You got me there."

We said our goodnights, he kissed my cheek and I left through the window as usual. I didn't get much sleep that night though, the apartment just felt empty and hollow.. My mind was elsewhere and had been since I left the hospital. I had found a pen and paper in a box of my things that I had never unpacked before I'd gone back home.

**Gaara,**

**I wanted to thank you for sending me back here.. I'm starting to feel.. Different. It is hard to explain right now, everything is too new.. I have friends here!**

**Anyway... the reason I am writing you isn't as happy as that. The Akatsuki have been active throughout the lands, and I hear they are getting closer to the Land of Fire. Naruto is in danger, Gaara.. I need you to do me a favor.**

**I cannot come home right now, but I need some information from Grandfather Ebizo...**


	23. Answers.

  
  
  
  


The next few days were disappointing at best, every time I'd gone to the hospital to visit, Kakashi had practically begged me to take Naruto out of the room for a while so he could get some rest.

I had wanted to talk to Kakashi about what happened, but I also didn't mind spending time with Naruto.

"Why don't you come stay at the apartment with me?" I asked him, hoping to rescue his Sensei.

Naruto thought about it for a moment as he shoveled ramen into his mouth but shook his head. "You didn't see Sasuke.. I need to train and get stronger."

I sighed, sipping at the broth that was left in my bowl. I was glad Kakashi was paying for this because I had only taken one mission since I got back and Naruto was on his third bowl.. I would have to get Gaara to send me some of my savings.

I wrote to him every night now, and usually received my answer the next afternoon. He was having trouble getting the answers I wanted from Granny Chiyo's brother, and once he'd brought up my idea to Kankuro.. Well.. I'd gotten a three page note from Kro that morning chewing me out for even thinking about it.

"Naruto! Kairi!" Sakura's voice greeted us as she lifted the curtains that formed Ichiraku Ramen's walls.

I could have almost jumped up and hugged her, it had been that long since I'd spent time with her. "Sakura, what are you--"

Riku followed her in.

Sakura saw my smile deflate and laughed a little. "Me too, Lady Kairi... But Captain Yamato wants us to bond as a team."

We both rolled our eyes..

"Here, Sakura.. Get you and Sai a bowl on Kakashi.. I would like to speak with Sai for a moment."

The robot followed me outside, and neither of us spoke to each other until we were several blocks away, in the empty schoolyard.

"Alright Riku, what the hell are you up to?" I asked, spinning around on him.

He surprised me by holding his hands up defensively the way Kakashi did, and then giving me his creepy smile. "Please Kairi.. I am Sai now, let's be friends."

I actually felt my eye twitch.

He sighed, sounding more human than I had ever heard him. "I am a part of Team Kakashi now."

"Is Danzo making a move against Naruto?" I almost growled it, even knowing he wouldn't be able to tell me if he wanted to.

Sai shook his head no, but it wasn't very convincing. "I do not want to hurt our friends."

"Fine.." I gave up, I wasn't going to get answers out of him.. But he also hadn't attacked me, and if Danzo had ordered my death..

"I have missed you, weakling." He smiled again.

"Weakling? What the hell?"

"Sorry, I am not good at nicknames."

"Ri- Sai.. Where is Hex?" I bit my lip, waiting for his answer.

"I thought she was with you." He stated, unbothered.

"What do you mean?"

"Our last mission together.. When you didn't respond to her, she went looking for you and neither of you came back."

She'd gone looking for me.. So the Akatsuki must have her.. If she hadn't actually joined them. "You didn't look for us?"

"That was not part of my mission objective."

\-----------------

I'd gone home without bothering to go back to Ichiraku Ramen. In my attempt to avoid thinking about the fate of my best friend, I'd decided to clean the apartment. Naruto had been staying here still, and the kid was a pig.

I was cleaning the mirror in the bathroom when I thought I saw a flash of something in my reflection, a flash of red eyes.. I turned around, ready to fight but nobody was there. I sighed, shaking my head 'you're just on edge.'

"Hello Kairi." That velvet voice drifted to me from the other end of the hallway. "It's been a while."

As I turned to face Itachi, everything around us faded into black. He'd caught me in the trap as soon as I'd seen him in the mirror, and I'd learned a while ago that there was no use fighting his Genjutsu. "What do you want?"

"You're nervous... I hear your heart." He tilted his head slightly. "Are you afraid of me now?"

I wasn't, but I was afraid of what Itachi being in the village meant... His friends couldn't be far, and I hadn't found out the secret to the jutsu yet.. Naruto was in danger, and I was helpless.

"I hear Gaara survived."

The sound that came from me was animalistic. "Don't you dare say his name."

"I'm sorry Kairi, he was one of the keys.." He crossed the distance between us and put his hand on my cheek. "It is for the greater good."

I slapped his hand away from me and stepped back. "Yeah yeah, I don't understand right? Now you're going to take Naruto."

"I'm not here for him."

"Then what do you want, Itachi?" I growled.

He sighed, the area around us changed to the living room in my apartment and he sat down on my couch. I hated seeing him relaxing in my house like that, in Naruto's house. He gestured for me to sit down in one of the chairs, and I shook my head.

"I wanted to see you." He said finally, quietly.

"I never want to see you again." I narrowed my gaze at him. "I hate you."

"Good." He laughed, standing up again. "Hate me, hate us all.. Get angry Kairi.. You will need it."

I couldn't keep the memory of the nightmare my mother gave me out of my mind.. "Is she with you?"

Itachi nodded slightly, looking confused. "How did you remember?"

It was my turn to be confused. "Remember?"

"I wanted you to forget that night.." He admitted, turning away from me. "I didn't want her betrayal to hurt you."

"It wasn't a dream.." I stated in disbelief. "She.. she left me here."

He only nodded. "Goodbye Kairi, for now."


	24. Date Night.

  
  
  
  


Kakashi had been knocking.. Well banging now, on Kairi's apartment door for well over ten minutes before she finally came to answer it. She was rubbing her temples as if her head hurt, and she looked rough, like she'd just rolled out of bed but she was still wearing the clothes she'd picked Naruto up in yesterday.

"Kairi, are you alright?!" He asked, gazing past her into her apartment for any sign of struggle.

"I'm fine." She murmured softly. "I was just napping."

He raised both his eyebrows, napping? For a whole day? "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Mhmm." She looked up at him now, her indigo eyes filled with some secret emotion. "Why, what's wrong? Is Naruto okay?"

"He's fine.."

"Wait how did you get out of the hospital?"

"Tsunade gave me the go ahead, Kairi what happened to you yesterday?"

"Yesterday?" She asked, tilting her head and narrowing her eyes as if she was trying to think through it.

Naruto had come back, saying that Kairi and Sai had gone to talk and that only Sai had returned, ruining his alone time with Sakura. When Kakashi had asked Asuma about her when he'd stopped by, he hadn't seen her either. It was an understatement to say that he'd become worried, with what she'd been saying about learning that new Jutsu, and with Sai being one of Danzo's subordinates.

"I must have overslept, I got really upset when I asked Sai about Hex.."

She was lying to him, he didn't need his sharingan to see it. He resisted the urge to pry into it more, and instead gave her a lazy smile. He'd been training all day with Tenzo and Naruto, thinking about the plans he had for tonight. "I came by to ask if you wanted to go get dinner?"

"Well, I'd need to get changed quickly.. I should probably grab some nicer close for Naruto so he doesn't stick out.." She started muttering, making her way back into her apartment.

Kakashi laughed nervously, following her inside the door. "Naruto is headed out on a mission."

"Captain Yamato is still filling in?" She asked, and then turned to him with suspicious eyes. "Wait, Kakashi why are you being weird?"

He scratched at the back of his head in nervous habit "Weird?"

"Where is your vest?"

She'd noticed his new clothes, and he tried to search her face to see if she liked them or not. They were pretty casual, his masked undershirt, a white t shirt and some dark pants. "Uh.. I was thinking that just the two of us could go to dinner?"

"Like a date?" She asked, those amazing dual colored blue-purple eyes going wide.

"Well..." He said softly, and then took a deep breath and stood up straight. "Yes, Kairi, would you go on a date with me?"

The smile that lit up her face could easily rank among the top five most beautiful things he'd seen in his life. "I would love to."

He smiled and let her go get ready while he occupied himself cleaning up the kitchen. He knew exactly who had made the mess due to the milk cartons and ramen cups piled up on the counters.

"Is this okay?" Her voice came from behind him.

When he turned around he couldn't speak. Kairi had her hair down, a pretty rare sight on its own.. But she was wearing a black and white flower patterned Kimono that came down mid thigh with a bright red belt wrapped around it and tied into a bow in the back.

When he didn't answer she seemed slightly nervous. "Its Temari's.. I don't really have a lot of casual clothes.."

"No, it's perfect." He swallowed, crossing the room to her and kissing her forehead through his mask before letting her take his arm.

They discussed Naruto's training as he led her through the village, he filled her in on his plan to get him stronger quickly using his shadow clones. She'd started asking about where they were going when he led her away from the main part of the village, where most of the restaurants were. He kept it a secret though, taking her down the the harbour to a restaurant Asuma had recommended.. He was a little too embarrassed to tell her that he'd gone to Asuma looking for dating advice.

"This is it.." Kakashi said, pulling the curtain back away from the door and leading her into a mood-lit little restaurant on the water. All of the tables in here were small, with room for only two.. A candle and a flower in the middle of each. Not many people were here either, a few couples, but they were each sat a good distance away from the others.

Kairi kept giggling as they were led to a table near the back, next to a wide window looking out at the water.

"What is it?" Kakashi asked, feeling nervous that she might think this was all too much.

"I was worried you were going to take me to get ramen." She admitted with another little giggle. "This is amazing.."

He laughed too, Ichiraku had been the first place he'd thought of when Asuma asked him what restaurant he'd had in mind.

They ordered a platter to share, and sat talking about everything and anything that had come up. He learned that in her time at home, her and her siblings had gotten very close again. She told him about the celebration her village had when Gaara became Kazekage, describing a traditional dress that he would have loved to see her in.

"Well it is a good thing you got a lot of rest.." He said once they had finished eating and he was watching her gaze out the window at the moon reflecting off the water.

"Hmm, why's that?" She turned to him, brushing her hair back behind her ear.

He sighed softly, disappointed that this moment in time with her couldn't last longer. "We have a mission."

Her face lit up with excitement, but he couldn't feel it with her. He hadn't forgotten about the last time the two of them had gone on a mission together, and he'd actually tried to protest when Tsunade had told him to take her with him this time. Now that Kairi was older, and Tsunade had spent three years watching him mope around the village.. The Hokage seemed determined to get them to make up for lost time.

"We will need to leave in the next hour, we are supposed to meet up with Jiraiya tomorrow evening in Katabami.."

"Master Jiraiya?" She asked, her excitement fading. "Why do we have to involve that old pervert?"

He raised his eyebrows "He isn't a pervert."

"Yes he is! I saw him peeking at women in the baths while I was following Naruto." She protested. "Besides, I heard he writes exotic novels.. Like smut."

He couldn't help but laugh, she whispered the last part like saying it out loud might be a sin. He got defensive over his favorite author though. "He doesn't write smut, they are epic romances."

Kairi raised both her eyebrows in surprise, and then after considering it for a moment she burst with "How would you know?!"

"Uh.." He thought he might faint. "Anyways, that's not important.. We need to meet up with Jiraiya because he has been out gathering intel on the Akatsuki."

"We are going after them?" She asked and he could tell that shook her.

"No, we are going to check on the neighboring villages and gather information." But he didn't want to lie to her about the risk. "If we end up running into them, I want you to leave it to Jiraiya and I."

She huffed, crossing her arms. "I've gotten better in the last three years, I've gotten better control of my Kekkei Genkai and I have created new Jutsu with Gaara."

He sighed, rubbing his forehead.

"Kakashi.." She said his name softly, reaching over and taking his hand. "I have been taking on S rank missions since I was 10.. You cannot get like this with me."

"I don't think I can see you get hurt again."

She groaned. "Then you stay here and I will go meet up with pervy sage."

"No!"

"Then let me help." She softened again, pouting in a way that made her wide eyes water.

He couldn't bring himself to say no to the face she was making. "Fine, we'll do it together."

"Alright!" Kairi shot up from her seat, doing a cute kind of victory dance. "Let's go get ready!"


	25. You have the same eyes as me.

  
  
  
  
  


The moon was full and high in the sky as we left the gates of Konohagakure, and my body was buzzing at the idea of another mission, another reason for existing. Even if we were mostly doing recon, the thought of the potential fight had me all worked up. Kakashi didn't try to carry me, he let me run free beside him. I'd spent time making sure to build up my speed and stamina, determined to be on equal grounds with him, but by his lazy demeanor and our easy conversation I knew he wasn't actually trying to get there too quickly.

"So that's why you were in the hospital for so long?" I asked, slightly shocked at the fact that his sharingan could give him a jutsu powerful enough to knock him down the way Itachi's genjutsu did.

"I had to use it a few times against Deidara." He nodded beside me. "I pushed my limits too far, Naruto is lucky I didn't pass out right there."

"And you ripped his whole arm off?" I was stunned. "With a visual Jutsu?!"

Kakashi nodded and I was impressed, wishing I'd seen that kind of fight. Deidara sounded like an interesting person too with a very unique kekkei genkai.. Not only the potent Earth and Lightning nature combination that makes up the Iwagakure explosives corp... but the mutation of his hands as well.. I tried to picture it on my own palms and shuddered.

It bothers me that the way Kakashi described him was accurate to the nightmare I'd had about being in the Akatsuki, even his cocky attitude. I looked up at the moon, which was the one thing that made me feel close to my mother. My mind raced with questions, _how had the bear done that? How had she known exactly what they looked like?_ I smiled a little, taking it as a positive sign that she was watching over us.

"You okay?" Kakashi asked, slowing when he noticed my distraction.

"Yeah." I smiled, looking in front of us again "Just thinking about my mom.."

"She would be proud of who you have become." He assured me, offering me words he knew I needed.

The night passed by rather quickly, we'd picked the pace back up and taken to discussing the villages we were going to, what we had learned about them and their jinchuuriki. We had started talking about the Hidden Mist village we would be visiting last before returning home.

"You said you had met Zabuza and Haku before?" He asked, he sounded sad. No doubt talking about Kirigakure had got him thinking about them.

"In the Rain." I smiled slightly, those were of my few fond memories. I wasn't sure if I wanted to talk to Kakashi about my sympathizing with rogue nin though.

"How did that go?" He pried on, either not caring or not realizing that I was reluctant.

"They assisted me in completing a mission.."

He nodded, waiting for the rest and I eventually sighed and went on.

"It was one of my first missions away, we had a target to eliminate, a real nasty guy.. I was separated from Hex and Ryu, and I was scared.." I smiled at the admission, there had once been a time I was human.. "Haku found me outside the village, he brought me a blanket and built me a fire. It didn't take him long to pry my story out of me, he was good at listening.. Haku got it, you know? Being raised to be a weapon.. I think he's the only one who ever did.."

Kakashi stayed silent as I relived my own memories of the sweet, beautiful boy.

"Haku was pure." It was possibly the truest way to describe him. "Zabuza.. He is a different story.. He found us, and was upset with Haku for staying with me for so long.. When Haku refused to move on until Zabuza helped me.. They both got me into the village, rescued my team and Zabuza made me complete my mission."

"He made you?"

I nodded, looking over to him. I was remembering more of the story as I told it.. Maybe not such a happy memory after all. "It was the first time I actually killed someone.."

Honestly, it had been easier than I thought it would be. The man had been kidnapping village girls, collecting them and putting them up to auction.. He was going to do the same to Hex, and Ryu.. well, once they had gotten the information they wanted about Sunagakure they were going to kill him.

"I tried to hide behind him, but he wouldn't let me.." I brushed a tear from my eye. "Haku wouldn't look at me the same after that. I became angry, so angry that nothing else mattered.. I lost control.. It was like Gaara."

"You killed everyone?" Kakashi already knew.

I nodded. "The women they were holding captive too."

He stayed quiet for a moment, and then whispered "I'm sorry."

"Zabuza wanted me to go with him and Haku.. If Hex hadn't intervened.. If she hadn't covered us in shadows..well, he wasn't asking.." As much as he'd scared me, I felt a certain affinity for the Demon of the Mists. In our brief meeting, he'd helped shape who I was going to be.

"Seems you have a better understanding of rogue shinobi than most." He made the comment I'd been dreading, and I knew he wasn't just talking about Haku and Zabuza.

"Itachi's been following me." I blurted it out in a rush, the guilt of keeping it in was too much.

He nodded, his face unreadable but he stopped moving so I did too and we stood in the road across from each other. "Tell me everything."

I was surprised he wasn't using his sharingan, this felt so much like when he'd been assigned to figure out if I was a spy or not when I'd first talked to him. I told him everything I knew, from the clearing in the forest where Kisame had tried to kill me, Hex coming to visit me in the hospital, Itachi catching me in genjutsu, my mother's nightmare and the most recent time I saw him.

"I knew you were lying to me." He said softly, his face not showing any emotion.

"I'm sorry.."

"I understand why you did it, but I need you to tell me everyone you saw involved with the Akatsuki and anything Itachi has said about them."

I sighed. "He doesn't talk to me about them."

Kakashi's demeanor shifted, he wasn't relaxed anymore he was alert and stood up straight. His eye was on me, and I thought I was a hint of possessiveness there. "What did he want then?"

"The times I remember.. He just wanted to talk about me."

"The times you remember?" He asked, through his teeth.

I nodded, remembering a few times when I'd woken up feeling like I'd been in the genjutsu but with no memory of what had happened.

His release of breath was a deadly sound, he wasn't happy. "Well, you said you saw Deidara in the nightmare... who was with Hex in the hospital?"

I tried to think back, but I didn't have the full memory.. "I don't know."

"Sakura said he looked strange."

I nodded, but couldn't remember why he had seemed so strange. I hadn't ever thought of asking Sakura, when I had thought it was just a nightmare. It surprised me he never brought it up before that she had gone to him.

He rubbed his face in frustration, and then let out a deflated sigh. "Do you have feelings for him?"

I nodded, he looked hurt until I spoke. "I hate Itachi Uchiha."

"We will work on genjutsu counters." Was all he said, but it hung heavily between us. Kakashi had been caught in that genjutsu.. He knew it was almost impossible to release it, unless someone else could break you out of it.

"Hey, there you are Kakashi!"

Saved by the perv.


	26. The Pervy Sage.

  
  
  
  
  


"Who is your young female friend?" Jiraiya asked Kakashi, a sinful grin on his face.

"Master Jiraiya, this is Kairi of the Kazekage clan in Sunagakure." Kakashi introduced them, trying not to be annoyed with the way his friend was looking at her.

"You're one of those little runts that was always following Naruto and I, huh?"

Kairi's eyebrows shot up, and she seemed to be struggling for an explanation.

Jiraiya laughed and Kakashi couldn't help but join him.

"You really thought the three of you could outsmart a Sanin huh? You got balls kid." The old sage grinned at her, giving her a thumbs up. "Even if they are on your chest."

"Don't." Kakashi gave a warning look, which only seemed to amuse Jiraiya further.

"Oh, I get it." The sage beamed. "She's your special friend, huh, Kakashi?"

Kairi groaned out loud "I told you he's nothing but a pervert."

Kakashi had been about to defend him again, but the old man stepped in on his own. "I am not just a pervert... I'm also an author, a sage, a sensei, a sannin."

The Jonin watched her continue to glare at Master Jiraiya as he listed off his many titles, and was unable to help the laughter that had been going on for quite a while now.

"What are you doing on the road anyways?" He asked his friend, trying to break up the tension. "We weren't supposed to meet you until later tonight.

Jiraiya refocused, changing from the pervy old man into the legendary sannin. "Right, well I figured since we already know that the Akatsuki are after jinchuuriki.. I already know that they have the five tail, they took it from Iwagakure, the seven tail from Takigakure and the one tail from Sunagakure... And I haven't noticed anything while I have been here, so I figure we move on to Amegakure."

"They have three of them already?!" Kairi asked, sounding shocked.

Kakashi watched her face, she was trying to hide the way she was breaking. He understood her, she was picturing each of them as Gaara. By now they both knew that extracting a tailed beast resulted in the death of its human vessel.. He doubted anyone like Lady Chiyo had been there to save the other two. He nodded to Jiraiya and then put a hand on Kairi's shoulder "Lets go make sure they don't get anymore."

She nodded, and they set off.

He refused to look at Kairi once Jiraiya started bringing up his books, afraid she'd be giving him the most judgmental face he'd ever encountered. Instead he gave the Sage quick, short answers as he asked him about the newest edition to the series.

"Come on Kakashi, you're usually so excited to talk about my novels."

He tried to subtly let Jiraiya know that he was crossing a line in front of the Sunagakure Kunoichi but Jiraiya only burst out laughing. "Well well now, that is why she's so snappy at me, she doesn't know you're a pervert too!"

Kakashi stopped dead in his tracks, feeling like he might just faint from embarrassment. "Uh."

Jiraiya burst out laughing, clapping his hand around Kairi's shoulders who looked incredibly uncomfortable with the gesture. "Kakashi here is my number one fan."

"Oh is he?" She asked, looking over her shoulder at him.

He wanted to disappear, to sink into the ground and not exist for a while. "I uh.. I told you, they aren't smut..."

"Smut?!" Jiraiya threw out the word like it was the most offensive thing he'd ever heard. "I'll have you know young lady, that I am a genius and those are my master pieces."

Kairi looked skeptical, and Kakashi almost died as he watched Jiraiya draw all three books out from a satchel and hand them to her.

"There, educate yourself." He nodded, patting her head.

She looked between him and Kakashi and sighed "What did I get myself into?"

Kakashi laughed nervously. He'd read the books in public so many times, in front of his students even, but with her it was different.. They weren't exactly smut, but there were definitely some pretty detailed scenes in them...

The group decided to get a hotel just inside the border of the Land of Storms, not wanting to get too close to the village hidden in the Rain that they may be noticed. To Kakashi's complete surprise, Kairi had actually opened Icha Icha Paradise and had been reading it during most of their journey, interested enough that she'd missed most of the times either of them had tried to talk to her.

He only finally got her to put the book down when he and Jiraiya came back to their hotel with the takeout they had gone to get. He was stunned to see she bent a page halfway through the book, she was reading it almost as quickly as he had the first time.

"Well, what do you think?" Jiraiya asked her.

Kakashi leaned in, interested in her answer as he began to set the food out on the table.

Kairi blushed, a deep shade that looked odd on her face and Kakashi couldn't help but smirk. "It's uh.. Not what I was expecting.. It is very relatable."

Jiraiya nodded, his hand on his chin like he was in serious thought. "Mhm mhm, I thought it would be to you two."

Kairi glared at him, and Kakashi found himself doing the same.

"There is only one bed in this room." She shifted the subject.

Kakashi stopped mid container opening and glanced into the bedroom portion of the suit, Kairi was right.

He'd asked Jiraiya to get the room while he looked for a good place to get food from. He should have known the old man would pull something sick like this.

"I just figured it would be good for us all to get to know each other a little better." Jiraiya nodded, eyeing Kairi with that sinful look again.

"Jiraiya and I will sleep on the floor." Kakashi said through his teeth.

\--------------------------------

It was very late, - or early depending on how you look at it- when her nightmares started. Kakashi woke up the moment he heard her whimper, and he laid on the floor listening to her thrash around on the bed for as long as he could bare.

He finally got up off the floor, looking around the room for Jiraiya but he wasn't there so he must still be out doing his research. Kairi had blown up at him after dinner when Jiraiya had tried to peek at her changing, she'd stormed off to bed and Jiraiya had left the room saying the girls from Sunagakure always took things too seriously. Kakashi had meant to talk to him about keeping it cool around Kairi, but he was pretty tired himself.

He stood over her for a moment, debating on summoning her usual cuddle partners Buru and Bisuke but he changed his mind as she mumbled his name. He pulled back the blankets and crawled into the bed beside her.

"I'm here." He whispered softly into her hair.

Kairi thrashed for a little longer, but eventually she had curled into a ball against his chest, clinging to his shirt and Kakashi had drifted off to sleep as well.

He didn't wake up again until he heard her roll over.

"Good boy Buru." She mumbled sleepy and his eye shot open.

Kairi was patting the top of a white fluffy... Toad sage.

Kakashi cursed, and punched Jiraiya hard enough to launch the old pervert out of the bed and up against a wall.


	27. Amegakure Moonlight.

  
  


The morning was growing on us, the sun rising behind our backs as we made our way towards the village hidden in the Rain. Kakashi and Jiraiya were quiet, still growling at each other over the events back at the hotel. My mind, however, was elsewhere.

It had been years since I set foot in this desolate place, this city broken by war and poverty. The memories of my last time here were fresh again thanks to the conversation in the road with Kakashi. I couldn't stop thinking about Haku, about how his devotion to Zabuza had led to his death. Kakashi had told me the details of how they died, of how Zabuza had wanted to be with Haku as they crossed over into wherever they were now... I hoped they were at peace with each other, the way Haku had always wanted them to be.

The unrecognizable faces of the people, innocent and guilty alike that I had massacred that day crossed through my mind. Women I should have saved had been killed by my jutsu.. A brutal, indiscriminate killing that had left scars even my brain didn't want to face.

I sighed heavily, the weight of the memory over taking me. Kakashi appeared beside me, his arm draped lazily over my shoulder as he kissed my temple and whispered "Don't think about it."

I wonder if that is how he dealt with the guilt he felt for Rin... Don't think about it, don't let it drown you.

"We'll need to change our clothes, to blend in." Jiraya finally spoke up from behind us, slowing his pace to a stop and bending down to dig through his bag. "Their security here is above anywhere else."

He threw Kakashi and I both indiscriminate black cloaks that we quickly put on. We also removed anything that would tie us to Kohoha and Sunagakure, blending in as civilian travelers. Kakashi had replaced his headband with a straw hat and his resemblance to the Akatsuki made me shudder.

"What is the plan once we get in?" I asked, eyeing the city gates as we neared.

We'd left the sun behind us, and entered the perpetually dark and stormy land. The city was dark and dingy, lit up with contrasting neon and the occasional crack of lightning which made it all the more intimidating.

"We are just getting information." Kakashi said firmly. "Stay close to me, don't wander off... if there is a fight I don't want you --"

"Stop." I said, holding up my hand and giving him a disapproving look. "We talked about this, you cannot treat me like I am fragile."

He looked like he wanted to argue it further, but instead he gave me a sullen nod. "Please just stay close to me."

I could agree with that.

I found myself staring up at the tall buildings in awe as we passed through the city streets. I'd forgotten how truly massive this village was, and how in its own way it held so much beauty. Jiraya split off from us, saying he was going to meet a contact. Kakashi and I made the most of our anonymity, he'd even taken my hand as we passed through the crowded market square.

"It isn't raining today!" I heard a little boy exclaim to his mother.

She smiled down at him, the gesture seeming to light up the area around her even though their faces were filthy. "Yes, that must mean Pein is home hmm?"

"Will we see him today mama?"

"Never our Lord." She told him, pulling on his hand but her face softened as she noticed his fell. "Maybe his Angel though."

I watched them walk away, their voices becoming lost among the busy streets.

"Who is Pein?" I asked Kakashi.

He looked as confused as I was "Maybe one of Hanzo's men.."

I nodded, accepting his answer. Hanzo had been leading this village for so long now, yet we rarely heard news coming from Ame.

It was a few more hours of blending in and listening to conversations before Jiraiya found us again. He looked deflated, and I noted a large lump on his forehead.

"Get caught peeking in baths again?" I asked with a smirk.

He glanced at me, a narrow eyed look that confirmed it. "There is no jinchuriki here."

"Then why did we come here?" I groaned, leaning against Kakashi who stood behind me.

"There has been so many power exchanges during the wars, we aren't actually sure who has them anymore." Kakashi told me, his breath moving my hair as he spoke.

The old sage nodded, and then sighed. "I have no other leads, other than knowing for sure Naruto is in Konoha... Everything we know about the other Jinchuuriki is just rumors."

"Lets head back to the room." Kakashi suggested. "We can think of a new plan tonight."

-xXx-

Kakashi stared at the woman beside him as she stared up at the pale glowing moon. He often wondered what it was about it that fascinated her so, what it was that made the emotions flash across her face the way they did. Sometimes she was quiet and serene, others it looked like a storm raged inside of her. He found himself reflected back from the indigo depths, a life full of horrors and pain masked by the stone face of one who had caused both. He wished she would smile, as selfish as a want it was, her smile made his own face light up in response.

"Are you just going to stare at me?" She asked without turning to see him.

"Probably." He admitted, adding "what do you see up there?"

"I don't know.." She sighed, leaning back so she could lay down on the stone balcony, raising a hand behind her head as a makeshift pillow. "Sometimes my mom.. Sometimes I imagine a woman trapped up there, and she's beautiful... All alone in all that darkness she still shines for us."

"She's not alone." He chuckled a little, moving so he could lay beside her and gesturing to the skies. "She has all those stars, making up consolations that dance with her."

When Kairi didn't say anything, Kakashi rolled onto his side, propping his head up on his elbow so he could watch her again.

The moon was reflected in her saddening eyes as he watched her face twitch with the effort of holding back her emotions. "What is it?"

He watched a tear leak from her eye and wiped it away with his thumb as she answered him, giggling in the way she did when she felt foolish. "I thought at least the moon would know how I feel.."

His heart ached for her, and he sat up once again, this time pulling her close against his chest and cradling her. "You're not alone, Kairi." He whispered as he kissed her hair. "You're a part of Konoha, and every single person there is a part of you now.. The same goes for Sunagakure.. In that way, you have more stars than most to shine with you.."

She smiled as she looked up at his face, it was a weak smile though.

He pulled down his mask and kissed her chin softly. "and on those days, that you still feel alone and the world is just too big... I will always be here, to hold you close."

He kissed her lips with his own now.

  
  



	28. Longing. {Lemon Warning;}

  
  


Our soft, sweet kisses had given way to something more.. Something instinctual that had me wriggling in his arms until I got my body as close to his as I could manage as we sat on the floor of the hotel balcony.

There was a deepening need inside my body, this hollow feeling that only seemed to alleviate when I was close to Kakashi. I could tell he felt it too, from the way he tangled his fist in my hair as he kissed me, keeping me as tight to him as possible.

I gasped for air as our lips parted, and I lifted my head to see the moon again as he trailed kisses along my jawline and down my neck. Every time his lips touched my skin it caused a burning, tingling sensation that made my breath catch in my throat.

His free hand clutched my back, his fingers grazing the bare skin beneath my shirt and sending chills up my spine.

"Kakashi.." I whispered, putting my hands on his face and kissing his forehead softly. I was unable to communicate the words I needed to tell him how I felt.. To tell him how much I needed him.

He let out a low sound somewhere between a groan and something... Sexier.

I felt his hands move, down to my thighs as he grabbed me and lifted me with him. I clung to him as he stood and opened the screen door. I copied him as he moved us inside, placing kisses along his sharp jaw and down his neck. When his flack jacket got in the way, I found myself pushing it off his shoulders, and he wiggled out of it leaving it on the floor somewhere between the balcony door and the bed he carried me to.

He laid me down between himself and the bed, and we just stared at each other. The look in his heavily lidded eyes chased away all the words and worries in my head, I knew I was smiling like an idiot but I couldn't help it.

He leaned in and gently kissed my forehead, the way he had done so many times before. "We should get some sleep." his voice was too raw and harsh to be a whisper.

My responding pout must have set something off in him, because once again his lips came crushing down against mine. Our tongues and bodies tangled and intertwined. I felt drunk, but in a different way than I had from the sake. I was drunk on his kisses, on his touches and I wanted more.

I found myself pulling up his shirt so I could feel the muscles on his chest, the scars, the heat of his body. He groaned a little and sat up to pull his shirt off, and as he did, I did the same wanting nothing more than to feel every inch of his skin on mine.

Kakashi gazed down at me with a hungry look in his eyes, his sharingan glowing in the darkness of the room as he bit his lip and trailed a hand softly along the curves of my body. "Do you understand how beautiful you are?"

I blushed deeply, and brought my hands up to try and hide from him but he caught them and pinned them above my head so he could continue to look at me. "You have nothing to hide from me.." He leaned down to kiss me again, letting my hands go.

As my hands explored his naked torso, his did the same, one pressed against the bed to hold his weight off of me, the other making its way from my neck down to my chest where he cupped and massaged me. He caught my nipple between his fingers and the responding noise I made seemed to amuse him as he continued to play with it.

I felt him grow where he was pressed between my legs and I couldn't stop the way my body moved against him, longing for him.

"Kakashi.." I whimpered to him.

He pressed his hand against my chest, holding me against the bed as he pulled away, his breath heavy. "We should stop before.."

"I don't want to." I cut him off, some new found confidence leading me to press the palm of my hand against the front of his pants where I knew he was weakest to resist.

"I don't want to hurt you." He whispered, but the way he pressed his hips back against my palm told me differently.

"It's okay.." I assured him, pushing down and wiggling out of my own pants so I was left bare aside from black panties. "I want you."

I didn't know a lot about sex, Jiraiya's dirty novel was about all I had for reference. Baki had tried to talk to me about it once, but I'd thrown teddy bears at him until he retreated from my room and we never brought it up after.

This didn't feel as awkward as I had thought, it was almost instinctual. I can't say I hadn't thought about having sex with Kakashi before, but somehow it was always different than this..

"I see you two managed to find some fun without me." An amused old voice came from somewhere by the door.

Kakashi let out a string of curses, pulling blankets over me before he leapt out of bed and attacked Jiraiya.

I buried myself deep beneath the covers and groaned, wishing I could just disappear.


	29. Stalker.

  
  
  
  
  


"Come on you kids.." Jiraiya groaned, breaking the awkward silence that had settled around the breakfast table. "It's a completely natural, healthy, and beautiful thing."

I didn't look up from where I was poking at my eggs but I knew Kakashi was glaring at him.

He'd summoned his ninken to guard the bedroom door last night as he slept in the main part of the hotel room to keep an eye on the sage.

After another ten minutes of silence the old man shot up from his seat. "Alright alright I'm sorry... But it's not like you hung a sock on the door or anything.."

"Where are we headed next?" Kakashi asked him in a cool tone, ignoring his previous statements.

I stayed silent, too embarrassed to eat.

"I figured we might try heading towards the land of waves." Jiraiya answered, finishing up his own food. "if anything was happening around here, we would have heard about it."

I stood, walking into the bedroom to pack. I just wanted far away from this hotel room and what had happened last night.

"Are you okay?" Kakashi asked from the doorway.

I nodded, and lied. "Just want to get back on the road."

He came up behind me and wrapped his arms around me, gently kissing the side of my head. "I'm sorry."

"I can leave if you guys want to try again!" Jiraiya called from the kitchen.

I groaned, using my magnetic style to bash him in the head with a frying pan.

Kakashi burst out laughing, which made me laugh.

"Come on, we are wasting daylight." The copy ninja grinned as he picked up my bag, took my hand and led me out of the hotel.

I found myself reading Jiraiya's book again as we walked, we had managed to convince him to quit talking about the situation along the way and he and Kakashi were having a discussion about Naruto's new training.

They believed he could perfect his rasengan, which I learned was passed down to him by his father, though neither of them would tell me who that was.

The night caught up with us rather quickly as we crossed the second border, and we stopped to make camp. Jiraiya had gone out to collect materials for a fire, and Kakashi was fishing down at the riverbank. I'd been so lost in the book I didn't offer to do anything useful but after I finished the last page I decided to go gather some supplies for tea.

The feeling of being watched prickled my skin once I had strayed too far away from the firelight. I knew better than to ignore that kind of feeling, so I had a Kunai knife pressed into the palm of my hand.

"Kairi." The velvet voice came from the treeline in front of me, soft in tone as if he were trying not to startle me.

"Are you following me now?" I growled at Itachi, where I could see his red eyes in the night.

He smiled as he moved towards me "this time, you have found me.."

I raised my eyebrow, sliding the Kunai down into my fingertips.

"What are you doing out here?" He asked, holding up his hands as if to show me he had no weapons. I knew better though, his eyes were weapons.

"Hunting you."

The thought of that seemed to amuse him for a moment, but his face became serious once more. "Go home Kairi, go back to Sunagakure and stay out of this."

It was my turn to laugh "and let you hurt Naruto?"

"There is a greater plan.."

I rolled my eyes, I'd heard this before. "Fight me." I hissed at him.

"Never." He vowed. "If you try and make me, I'll put you in the genjutsu."

I glared at him.

"You're helpless against me, Kairi. Go home, stay safe... Or I will keep you safe."

"I can keep myself safe."

He laughed again, darker this time. "Not against me, not against what is coming. You think Kakashi would be able to save you if I took you?"

He was right, he knew it and I knew it. Kakashi had been so weak after he was caught in Itachi's trap.. And after his fight with Deidra.. Who knew what the rest of the Akatsuki were like.

"I can protect you better than he can." He continued, but then his head snapped to the side and he narrowed his eyes in the darkness. "I have to go."

I couldn't see who or what he was looking at, but the darkness where his eyes were trained gave me the chills.

I wanted to make him stay, to get information from him or fight him I wasn't sure but he was gone before I could utter a word.

I let out a huff of air I didn't know I was holding and headed back to the campsite with what supplies I had gathered.

A fire was going now, Jiraiya was sat in front of it with a notebook in his lap and a bottle of sake beside him. Kakashi was across from him, poking at the fish he was cooking.

"I was starting to worry." He teased.

I thought about lying, and telling him everything was fine but I was so tired of lying to him. "I saw Itachi."

Kakashi dropped the stick he held and stood, crossing the distance between us as he pulled me protectively against his chest and glared into the forest behind me. "What did he do to you?"

"Itachi Uchiha?" Jiraiya asked, his pen dropping from his hand.

I nodded to the old Sanin. "He didn't do anything, he just told me to go home.."

Kakashi pulled me away from his chest and cupped my face in his hands, kissing my forehead the way he does as Jiraiya headed out in the direction I came from.

"Are you alright?" He asked softly.

I nodded, not knowing how to tell him that Itachi had threatened to take me.

"Maybe we should go back.."

I shook my head. "We need to stop them."

He sighed, but had obviously decided not to argue with me.

When Jiraiya returned with nothing, the three of us ate and I filled the old sage in about the Uchiha basically stalking me. Kakashi filled him in on the arrangement that was made with my father. "I think he feels like she belongs to him, because he feels Rasa would have chosen him."

"So... the fourth Kazekage chose you to marry his daughter, and now here the two of you are all these years later?"

We both nodded.

"Well, fate is a funny thing.." He mused softly, stretching out in his bedroll.

"Fate?" I asked him, cuddling against Kakashi where we laid on the other side of the fire.

The old man nodded, and I saw his years in his eyes. "I am not saying your whole life is planned out, but somethings are meant to be, and some are not."

I tilted my head a little, thinking that over. I couldn't find it in my soul to agree with him, all the sadness in this world couldn't be some sort of plan.

"You two should probably get married then." He laughed a little, sounding half asleep.

I cocked an eyebrow, bewildered at the thought of it.. But when I looked up at Kakashi, he seemed less surprised at the notion. "Lets get some sleep." He whispered against my hair, gesturing to the ninken who lined our perimeter. "They will guard us.. I won't let anything happen to you."

I couldn't say I believed him after what Itachi had said, but I knew he would try.


	30. Villain.

  
  


_"Ugh, what a weak little girl.." Kakashi groaned, pulling off his Anbu mask now that they were away from Sunagakure._

_Itachi didn't bother removing his own, and had mostly been quiet as his captain went on ranting about the arrangement. "I don't think she's as useless as you say..."_

_Kakashi side eyed him, giving a huff. "She's just a little kid..."_

_"It's not like I'm going to marry her right now!" Itachi shot back, slightly disgusted at the insinuation. "We probably won't even speak to her again until she's 19.. By then I'll be 26 and it won't be so weird!"_

_Kakashi shook his head "well, you can marry her then.. I want nothing to do with the little brat."_

Itachi watched from the shadows as Kairi walked back the way she came, moving quickly as if she knew danger was near.

He sighed heavily, not doubting that Kakashi was waiting for her.

"Who was that, Itachi Senpai?"

"Knock off the Tobi voice already, and don't call me that." Itachi growled at the shadows where he knew Madara hid.

He was sure this man wasn't the true Madara Uchiha, how could someone of ancient legend still be alive? Though, he also didn't care who was truly under that mask. They had made a deal, and it was honored, that's all he cared about.

"I asked you a question." Madara stated, moving into the light though his masked face was still turned in the direction the girl had gone.

"Nobody." Itachi kept his voice cold and even. "Just some girl I knew a long time ago."

He was worried that the man would pry further, trying to seek out a weakness.

"We should keep moving." Madara said finally, turning away from where Kairi had gone.

Itachi nodded, and the two got back on their planned route.

_"You don't understand, Kairi."_

_"What is there to understand?! You killed your clan... Your family.. You killed your parents."_

_Itachi winced, coming from her... The look of hatred in her eyes, it hurt. "I had to.."_

_She still glared at him, but he saw her eyes soften.. She knew the weight of duty._

_"There was going to be an uprising, they were going to start another war... I couldn't watch that happen again, I couldn't let Sasuke see what I saw.. I had to stop it.."_

_"Are you crying?"_

_He quickly wiped his sleeve across his face. "You're the only person I've told this to.."_

_"This world makes monsters of us all.." Kairi repeated what he'd said to her as if it were her personal motto. "Who put that weight on you?!"_

_He sighed, knowing it was pointless to tell her but did so anyways. "Danzo.."_

_The string of curses that came from her made him raise his eyebrows, but then she said what he dreaded most._

_"I'll kill him! I have to tell Sasuke, he's so broken... I have to tell everyone! I'll clear your name so you can go home.."_

_"You won't." He said softly._

_"Why not?"_

_"Because you're not going to remember this, Kairi.. I used a visual jutsu, we have had this conversation before.. But I need you to forget that we've had it.."_

_"Why would you.."_

_"I need him to hate me." Itachi muttered as he released her._

_He caught her as her body fell, weak from what he did to her mind. He regretted it everytime, but these moments with her somehow helped him get through his miserable days._

_He lifted her in his arms, just as he had when he'd found her broken on the desert sands and tucked her into the bed._

"Where have you been?" Kisame drew him from the memory.

"I found him wandering in the woods picking flowers." Madara answered, his idiot Tobi persona back in place.

"I was checking our perimeter." He rolled his eyes.

"If we aren't in Amegakure to meet with Pein tomorrow..."

"Yeah yeah." He waved Kisame off. "Vey will eat us with her shadows or something."

He didn't hear whatever his partner said next, thinking of Vey drew his mind back to Kairi.

_He'd been alerted about the curse mark Orochimaru had placed on his little brother, and also that there was a plan to try and take Sasuke from the village. He'd gone back to try and stop it, but had apparently arrived too late._

_Though, fate has a funny way of working out.._

_He passed Vey and Pein on the road into the village, and Vey informed him of her stupid plan to go say goodbye to Kairi._

_"She's following, stop her or I will." Pein commanded._

_Itachi didn't argue, he just stood and waited._

_"That wouldn't have ended well for you." He told her, once she'd ran into him and knocked herself back. He was concerned to see her dressed in a hospital gown again, but he didn't move to help her up._

_"What the hell did you do to her?" Kairi spat at him with a venomous glare. "Is this some kind of genjutsu?"_

_It was hard to be reminded that she hated him, that she too believed the lie.. And even though she knew the truth, and understood him.. She couldn't remember._

_He wasted time arguing with her about her friend, but his patience was worn thin with the idea of someone like Orochimaru having Sasuke... though it could be an opportunity for him to get stronger._

_"either come with me, or go back to Kakashi." Itachi almost spat the words out. "He needs you right now.."_

_He'd watched them growing closer, and though he knew it was probably best for her.. He wished she could remember the way they had gotten close as well._

_He saw the anger boiling up inside her, and reacted in time to stop her attack, once again catching her with his genjutsu._

_He grabbed her arms where she held the knives, and dissipated the mineral jutsu she'd tried. "Good effort, but you're too slow."_

_"Why won't you fight me?" She cried out, her anger fading as her true grief came through._

_He let her go, and she dropped to her knees in front of him. "I will never fight you, we are the same."_

_"We are not!" She hissed._

_He smiled a little, they were more similar than she knew. She'd told him before, if Rasa had given her the choice between Gaara and her village... She would have watched Sunagakure burn._

_"Why can't I go with her?" Kairi whimpered a little._

_Itachi could tell Vey was a soft spot for her, like family. He bent his knees so he was crouching in front of her. "Would you join the Akatsuki to be with her?"_

_She looked up at him, wiping her face as she narrowed her eyes. "She said you know how to fix it.. Everything that's wrong with this world.. I want to help fix it."_

_He truly wished he was a selfish man at that moment. If he was selfish, he could have her.. He could be with Sasuke, his little brother would never have endured so much pain... And it could be him, instead of Kakashi that she felt safe with._

_Itachi was not selfish though. "Would you kill Gaara to save the world?"_

_He watched the confusion and anger flash across her face. He already knew her answer to that question, it was the same as his own would be for his little brother._

_"If you touch him, I will kill you, Itachi Uchiha." She hissed, but it was a vow._

_"Go back to Kakashi, forget tonight and go back to Konohagakure.."_

_He released her._

Itachi looked up at the moon, his mind wandering through the countless other moments he'd stolen from Kairi.

Perhaps he was more selfish than he thought.

He'd tried to leave her alone, he'd tried to stay away but he always found his way back to her one way or another. He could never resist getting her in the jutsu, and being able to talk to her for real. He'd found a way to let her remember, but only inside genjutsu, and she always forgot when he released her..

He wondered briefly if he could just keep her under, with him.

Genjutsu was just a dream world though, and he was getting sicker from using it so much..

She had a life, and he could see the way she was falling in love with Kakashi.

Kakashi deserved her, with all the pain he'd suffered.. They deserved each other.

And Itachi had to ensure Sasuke's future.

They all had their roles to play.


	31. Stubborn as Stone.

  
  
  
  


We had spent two uneventful days in the Land of Waves, not picking up any information on a Jinchuuriki or Akatsuki movements. We had spent another day and a half making our way to Iwagakure once Jiraiya had suggested they may have left clues there when they took the Jinchuuriki.

I had finally forgiven Jiraiya for being such a creep, and had finished off the last of the three books he gave me and was now racking his brain about my unanswered questions. Kakashi was answering some of them, and posing his own towards the old sage.

"I will not spoil any potential sequel!" Jiraiya laughed, waving us off as we approached the hotel we were going to spend our time here in.

It wasn't safe to camp around here, as Konohagakure and Iwagakure had such a shaky past. There was too much risk of being recognized and ambushed in the night, not to mention Kakashi was still bothered by Itachi's last "visit".

Jiraiya ordered us two separate rooms this time, nudging the old innkeeper "the lovebirds get a little rowdy."

We both glared at them as they laughed together.

"Alright kids, time to get into recon mode." Jiraiya told us as we went to find our rooms.

Recon mode meant it was time to disguise ourselves from the villagers again, so we could do much like we had in the last two villages - walk around and listen.

We had all gotten new supplies when we stopped at the last village, and I was excited to try on my new persona. Kakashi darted into the bathroom before I had a chance, so I changed in our room.

I couldn't help but grin as I got ready, I'd kept my outfit hidden from both of them when I bought it. I tucked my hair up into a blonde wig, and adorned myself in a dancers kimono. I used the mirror on the dresser to pale my face and add a modest makeup, completing my look with a fan that reminded me of Temari.

When Kakashi returned from the bathroom, we both stopped and stared at each other in awe. Our costumes so far had been humble robes, we hadn't had any fun with it until now.

Kakashi's hair was black now somehow, and his mask was nowhere in sight. His scar was covered by purple kabuki paint, and both his eyes were a chocolate brown color. He wore only a fishnet shirt over his bare torso, and a pair of dark shorts.

"Wow.." I said, stupefied by how good he looked.

"You too." He laughed, tucking a stray strand of the wig behind my ear when he moved towards me.

"Yooo hooo!" a high pitched woman's voice came through the hotel door. "It's time to go for supper!!"

We looked at eachother and raised our eyebrows before Kakashi went and opened the door.

I nearly fainted.

Jiraiya stood there, batting fake lashes at us, dressed as a woman. It looked like he'd shoved watermelons down the front of his kimono. His makeup was sloppy, but it wasn't horrible... The whole thing was just wrong.

"After supper, I'm going to go and play music in the bathhouse." He squealed in that horrible, nails on chalkboard voice.

Kakashi groaned and I burst out laughing, laughter that didn't stop until we were seated in our restaurant.

Jiraiya and I were making a big deal of talking about the dance troupe we worked for when Kakashi shushed us and pointed to his ear to tell us to listen.

"Well I think they did us a favour!" A rather drunk man said loudly from the bar.

"A group of Rogue nin took one of our people from our village!" Another argued.

"Wasn't like Han was one of us." The first man huffed.

"He was nothing but a freak." The woman he had his arm around nodded. "Good riddance."

I sighed heavily, no longer interested in the food in front of me. I'd heard people speak like that before, about Gaara, about Naruto... They were speaking of their Jinchuuriki. Whether or not people knew about the tailed beasts, prejudice was always passed down by those who did.

I went to stand, to go and defend someone I never met but Jiraiya placed a hand on my shoulder, forcing me back into my seat.

"Stay here, eat your supper." His gruff male voice seemed odd given his disguise.

He left our table, heading over to the bar where he ordered a drink and began talking to the group in that ridiculous voice.

"They really don't care.." I said softly to Kakashi who was watching me with concern.

He nodded a little "The beasts have always been a problem."

"But the ones who hold them, how can nobody care about them?"

"You haven't had to live through a war."

I stared at him, he wasn't wrong but I couldn't fathom anything that happened in those wars changing how I felt about my little brother or Naruto.

"We need to save them."

"We will." He offered me a smile, it worked in reassuring me.

Jiraiya left the restaurant with the intoxicated group, giving us a casual wave.

"Guess it's just us for the night." Kakashi laughed, waving down a server to pay the bill.

We left the restaurant arm in arm, talking about the history of Iwagakure. It was one of the most offensively focused villages, constantly attacking or carrying out espionage plans on the others.

The people here seemed stubborn and prideful, but other than the apparent hate they hadn't yet learned anything about the Jinchuuriki. We had also so far not gathered any information on the Akatsuki's time here, nobody seemed to have seen them. Atleast, not that they would let on.

There were others like the ones in the restaurant who felt like the organization had done them a favour by taking the Jinchuuriki named Han.

"They say there was once only one, ten tailed beast that roamed free." Kakashi spoke as we walked, seeming to sense where my mind was.

When I didn't respond to him, he continued.

"They say that it was a wild, evil thing.. Wherever it wandered, devastation followed. Even the most elite warriors could not match its power, until Shinobi no Kami came."

"The God of Shinobi?" I asked, not really needing an answer. I'd heard some of the stories about the Sage of the Six paths. "Those are just children's stories."

"I thought so too." Kakashi nodded, sliding his hand into my own. "But if the beasts, and the Jinchuuriki are real... perhaps he was as well."

"But how did one become nine?"

"He sundered them." A woman's voice came from behind us, and we both turned to look at her. She was an elder, blind apparently, but her wise old face seemed to say she saw more in her life than most. "A gesture of peace, he changed their evil nature when he freed them from that form."

"They are still evil." I told her, remembering the destruction Shukaku had caused when he had gotten control of Gaara.

The woman smiled a little, like a grandmother explaining something to a small child. "Resentful, yes, but not evil. They have been caged and controlled for generations."

"How do you know this?" Kakashi asked, he was tense, on guard but his voice was soft.

"My son is a Jinchuuriki."

"Han, the one the Akatsuki took?" He asked her.

"No, my son is Roshi. He no longer lives here in the village... He left us quite some time ago, wanting to gain control of his beast away from where it could hurt the village."

"They had two?" I asked, though she had already answered it. "Where is he now?"

"He may be in danger." Kakashi added.

The woman nodded, the lines in her face reforming into sadness. "I am not sure where he is, we fought about that beast you see.. I told him he needed to be kind and gentle with it, to understand it.. He didn't like my advice."

"You fought before he left." I concluded.

"Unfortunately so." Her pale eyes seemed to reflect the moment he walked away, as if it were the last thing she'd seen. "Now he will die, stubborn as stone."

I narrowed my brows, my defiant nature coming through. "I will save him."

She gave another sad smile "I believe you will try, and I thank you for that.. But you are not done losing yet." She turned her face towards Kakashi, staring at him as if her eyes still worked. "You more than her."

Kakashi seemed to think that over for a moment "there isn't much left for me to lose."

"We all believe that at some point." She coughed, it seemed to rack her whole body.

"There you are!" Another woman in a hospital uniform approached us. She took the old woman by the shoulders, apologizing to us as she led her away.

"Crazy old bat." I said, trying to shake off the eerie feeling. "What's wrong?"

I could see from his eyes that Kakashi was still chewing over what the woman had said. From the way he was looking at me, I could tell it was her last statement that had gotten under his skin.

He would lose more than I would.

I knew where his mind went, and it made me feel sick to my stomach. Kakashi had lost almost everyone he'd cared about, and blamed himself for most of it. Like a cursed man, everything he loved would die.

He loved me now.

The secret messages between Gaara and myself, the fact that I was still trying to learn the resurrection jutsu felt more like a betrayal now. I knew his pain, as intimately as I knew my own and I was still trying to sacrifice myself for Naruto.

He would lose me, but I couldn't let myself feel guilty for it. Naruto needed someone to make that sacrifice for him, he would be the one to change the world, not me.


	32. The First Time. {Lemon Warning.}

  
  
  
  


We had made our way back to our hotel in relative silence, despite my attempts to get him to speak to me. He was so lost inside of himself, putting up those old Anbu walls to keep me at a distance. It was usually so easy for me to read this man, to imagine what he was thinking simply by imagining what I would be thinking but his face was a blank slate and his eyes seemed dead.

"I'm going to change." He said flatly as we entered the room, and then disappeared into the bathroom.

All of the playfulness of earlier was gone, the room felt heavy and empty. He left me in silence to chew at my lip and be lost in my own thoughts.

I took off my costume, changed into my bed clothes and curled up, staring at the bathroom door.

At some point I must have fallen asleep, because the next thing that I felt was Kakashi's lips pressed against my forehead. I opened my eyes to stare up at his face, cast in the darkness of the night and shadowed with some secret regret. I reached my hand up to his cheek, which he pressed into my palm and then kissed my wrist.

"I'm so sorry Kairi." It was barely a whisper, but I heard it.

He'd torn himself apart about what the old woman had said, and part of me hated her for saying it.

I couldn't think of the words to comfort him, so I kissed him instead. He kissed me back with a ferocity I'd never really known from him, the pure need in the way his lips crushed mine, like he was trying to drown the demons that haunted him and I was the water.

It was what I had done the night in Amegakure, lost myself in him so I didn't have to feel what I was feeling. We were damaged that way, both of us. We didn't face things, we hid from them, locked them down the way we were taught to... or in other ways it seemed.

He pulled me tight against his body, and I reacted by pressing myself as close as I could to his skin. He was shirtless, wearing only a soft pair of loose pants. His movements were so swift it startled me, he'd moved me beneath him, his hips pressed between my knees. He never broke the hungry kisses we shared, not until I trailed my fingertips down his arm and he stopped to stare at me for a moment. He caught the hand I touched him with and kissed my fingertips gently in contrast.

"I need you." He whispered, his eyes - his sharingan staring into mine.

"I know." I said softly, touching one of the many scars on his chest.

He sighed softly, and looked as though he was going to say something else but stopped himself. He kissed me again, with all the fire and angst he had before. His kisses faded down my jaw, down my neck and when he was stopped by the night dress I wore he slowly began to pull it off of me, looking towards my face for any sign of rejection. He wouldn't find it, and to better prove the point I helped him remove the only barrier between his eyes and my body.

His exhale was sharp as he knelt to admire my form, I felt shy but the way he looked at me gave me some new form of confidence I had never known.

"Is the door locked?" He asked, his hands trailing my hips.

I nodded quickly, the shaky movement betraying how nervous I was.

"We can stop.." He reminded me, and this time I shook my head.

He hesitated, and I once again reached for where he was weakest. My touch sent a soft shiver over his body and his eyes softened, deepened with need. He removed his hands from me and pressed down the edges of his pants to reveal himself entirely.

Kakashi Hatake was an impressive man.

At least as far as I knew, which wasn't very much. He was impressive enough to intimidate me, and make me wonder how much this would actually hurt.

He must have seen the slight horror in my eyes, watched me trying and figure out how the two of us were supposed to fit together. He chuckled lightly, giving me a few soft kisses. "I'll be gentle"

His words made me wonder about his own experience, but that faded away when I felt where he touched me next. The shiver that spread through my body was relentless, but he seemed to enjoy the sound he got me to make. His eyes were still full of lust and urgency as he once again pressed his lips to mine with force, but his hand was patient and gentle.

I felt one of his fingers slip inside me and I accidentally bit down on his lip. His responding groan gave me goosebumps, and both of our impatience seemed to gain ground. He removed his hand from me, but kept it between our bodies. "Tell me if it hurts." He whispered.

Before I could answer him I felt him, solid and warm, pressing softly against me. I gasped as he pushed inside a little bit, willing my body to make room for him. The deeper he pushed, the more the pain grew, but it wasn't exactly pain.

It took a few moments of whimpering, pausing, and him distracting me with insatiable kisses but eventually, somehow, it worked. He claimed my body with his own, slowly at first, gentle like he promised, but then that need took over and we descended into an instinctual relentless rhythm. He used his tongue to keep me somewhat quiet, but every time he pulled away we would both make noises I'd never imagined and it drew us even further into the thrall of our first time.

I could feel my thighs bruising from his hip bones, I had felt myself tearing to allow him access, I felt the way he pinched and bit at my chest, but it wasn't pain I experienced.

I was in pure ecstasy.

His release sent pulsations through my body and I watched all the sadness and darkness leave his face as he truly lost himself in me. It made my body respond, and in my own relief I felt light as air, as if nothing could touch me and nothing would ever come between us again.

My first time was raw, needy and rough with the unspoken tensions that had built up between us. The second time though, after we'd held each other, talked, laughed and slept a little was everything I'd pictured the first being. He was slow, sweet, and gentle. His hands and mouth explored my body, and mine his. Where the first time had probably taken moments, the second we savored for hours.


	33. Coward.

  
  
  
  


Kakashi opened his eyes slowly, unwilling to leave the dream he'd been having of the future. He found her face in front of his, a peaceful smile on her lips that was rare for the girl who slept so violently. He greatly doubted that she would have the energy for nightmares after the night they spent together though. He almost wanted to wake her with soft kisses, to show her once more his love for her. He wanted to have her again, go for breakfast, laugh with her and live happily ever after the way they had in his dream.

But dreams were just dreams.

Kakashi knew that Kairi was not done lying to him, he'd seen the birds that brought her letters from the fifth Kazekage and he knew what those letters were about. Kairi was still trying to find the secrets to her grandmother's jutsu. She wasn't going to stop while Naruto was still in danger, no matter how much they argued about it.

He felt guilty, he knew Naruto deserved a long and happy life. If anyone did, it was the little knucklehead that gave everything to everyone else. He just didn't want it to be her, he couldn't allow it to be her. She'd spent so long alone and out casted, with no one to care aside from a friend who had betrayed her. She'd finally gotten her family back, the people of Konohagakure accepted and loved her. She had so much to lose.

Kakashi had only her, and the few he was close to.

"You more than her."

The old woman was wise in a way the world didn't understand and he felt she could truly see what was to come. He would lose Kairi, just as he'd lost everyone else.

He carefully pulled away from her, slipping out of the bed and back into his pants. He covered her naked form with a sheet after admiring her for a moment longer.

He couldn't bear to lose her too.

Before he could think of what he was doing, he'd fully dressed, picked up his pack and left their room. He would leave, disappear from her life and she'd go back to sunagakure with her family. She wouldn't have any reason to stay in the leaf village if he wasn't there, and eventually she wouldn't be so close to Naruto. She may not even find out if he was in danger, Kakashi would protect him and she would be oblivious, out of harm's way.

"Where are you off to?" Jiraiya asked from where he sat on the steps outside the hotel.

"To find some breakfast." Kakashi lied.

Jiraiya nodded slightly and then sighed. "You are so much stronger than he was, you know?"

His shoulders slumped, but he had an idea of who the old Sage was speaking of. "Who?"

"Sakumo.."

Kakashi went to protest, to defend his father but Jiraiya held up a hand to silence him.

"Yes, yes. He was brave when it came to missions, one of the most talented and efficient the village had seen." Jiraiya went on. "he would never back down when it came to a mission, no matter how dangerous... But loss.. Sakumo couldn't face loss."

Kakashi stayed quiet, seeing the shape of his father on the ground between himself and Jiraiya the way he had as a kid.

"Sure, he held out for a while after your mom, tried to do his best for you. I remember each milestone you achieved in the academy, everytime they praised you as a Shinobi prodigy it ripped your old man in half.

He was proud of you, always so proud..

But every victory led you closer to being in the field, to taking on missions and being in danger. Sakumo never forgot the danger.. He couldn't face the idea that he may lose his only son the same way he lost her."

He knew what the Sage was talking about now, Jiraiya knew he was leaving her.

"Your father was no coward, I am not saying that. I am just saying that you have faced loss, and you kept going. That girl in there, I cannot begin to guess at what she's lost but I see the same look in her eyes as your own. There is darkness in this world, that is true. There is also fire, a light that burns in your generation and in Naruto's.

There is a path laid out here, something that has been in the making for longer than the stories tell. You can leave that girl in there because you're afraid to lose her, hell, you could even leave Naruto because he's in danger too... Myself because my old age is beginning to get the better of me.. You should probably just leave the whole village, it's already been attacked once right?

But then what would you have left other than your ghosts and your regrets?"

Silence.

He had no idea what to say to the old man.

"Oh, there you guys are." Her voice came from behind him, tentative but sweet. "Are we heading out?"

"What do I know though, I am just a rambling old man." Jiraiya grunted as he rose from his seated position. "Kakashi was just going to look into a lead, c'mon Kairi let's go get some breakfast."

She gazed between the two men, her face puzzled as she tried to figure out what they had been talking about.

Kakashi turned around and gave her a lazy smile, walking to her and giving her a soft kiss on her forehead. "I changed my mind, I'll go with you guys for breakfast." He conceded, pulling his mask up over his face.


	34. A Request. -Part Three; Happily.-

  
  
  
  


Gaara sat behind the large sandstone desk in his office, working his way slowly through the stack of papers laid out in front of him. Only his two trusted guards were in the room, standing behind him to his left and right staring blankly forwards.

Usually he'd allow them to be at ease, playing board or card games in the corner but he was expecting company today.

Icy blue eyes trailed away from the latest paper. Yet another letter from his eldest sister, pleading for any new information on the Jutsu he'd promised to discover for her. He pressed his lips softly, setting this one aside so he could read it properly later before he set back to his business.

In this room he was not Kairi's little brother, not the youngest sand sibling or the monster of Sunagakure. He was the Lord Fifth Kazekage, and he very much enjoyed that feeling from time to time.

A few short raps at the door announced the arrival of his expected visitor.

"Send him in, please." The Kazekage spoke, clearing his throat as he was still adjusting to his new, deeper voice.

Gaara straightened his shoulders and back, attempting to seem taller now. He began to write again, careful to keep his eyes away from the door as he attempted to give an air of indifference, disinterest and business.

"Honorable Lord Fifth Kazekage." The sharp voice of the older man was tinted with the cracking of nerves.

Gaara couldn't help but smirk just a little, the reason for his own nervous preparations was just as seemingly uncomfortable. "Kakashi Hatake, it is good to see you. Please have a seat and we will begin discussion in a moment."

He gestured briefly to a chair across from his desk, returning to the paperwork he was currently signing. He hoped to make the training academy field trip form look more important than it was. He was still smirking as he heard Kakashi fidgeting slightly across from him. The fact that the legendary Copy Ninja of Konoha was here in his office, older than himself yet having a difficult time containing his unease was a bit of a treat.

Just to delay the issue a little further, he took his time stacking the papers properly and setting them aside, before he laced his fingers together and finally looked up to his visitor. "Yes Kakashi, you had a request I do believe?"

"Yes." Kakashi said too quickly, "Lord Kazekage, I wanted to - -"

"Please, call me Gaara."

"Uh, Gaara.. I have come to ask for - - well, to request your permission to ask for Kairi's hand." Kakashi again spoke quickly, stumbling over his words a bit.

Gaara could not help the smile that spread over his face this time. He may be Kazekage in this office, an island of his own, but he still wished to see his siblings happy. "Do you swear on your life to honor and protect her?"

Kakashi paused for a moment, seeming to think over what he was about to say. "That is the other reason I wanted to speak with you Gaara. It makes it hard to both protect Kairi, and to love you as a brother in law when you are helping her formulate a plan to kill herself."

Gaara glanced at the letter sitting on his desk, his eyes wavering over his sister's beautiful lettering and gave a quick nod to the man in front of him. "As much as I owe Naruto, and believe in him.. You can not think that after everything I would assist my sister in this jutsu plan of hers?"

Kakashi's confusion showed on his visible face.

"You know her stubbornness, if I had told her no, she would have been back here in an instant to find the secrets herself." Gaara continued. "I'm writing to assure her I was looking into it, I bought the time I needed to be absolutely sure that Granny Chiyo never revealed that secret to anyone, nor did she keep record of it."

"You were never going to help her?"

"I've just gotten my family back, as selfish as it is, I would not lose it again for anything or anyone."

"Then I vow my fullest protection to not only Kairi, but to your family and village as well." Kakashi stood and placed a hand over his heart.

Gaara smiled a little, opening a drawer on his desk and bringing out a mess of paper that had been pieced back together. "Seems as cruel as he was, my father was wise in his choice."

Kakashi silently eyed the scroll of paper that was once to be his marriage arrangement yet had nearly lost him the girl he loved.

"You are very precious to my sister, do not hurt her again." Gaara nodded, holding the ruined paper over the flame of a nearby candle "you may ask her with my blessing, but her answer is her own to give."

"Thank you, Gaara."

The Kazekage nodded and removed his hat, placing it on the desk before he produced a bottle of sake and two glasses. "Now we celebrate.... Brother."

\------------{Later}-------------

A crash and the sound of laughter stirred me from my peaceful slumber. I sat up a bit, wondering if it was some lingering bit of a dream until I heard Temari's shrill voice echoing through the house. I quickly came to my senses, fearing the worst as I tossed off the blankets and left my bedroom.

"Temari, what's wrong?" I called down the hall as I made my way to the main part of the house.

"Your boyfriend got my baby brother drunk!" My sister called back, sounding like a mother and using ' _my baby brother_ ' in such a way that made me feel as though it was my fault.

"What?" I asked as I came into the den, my eyes widening at the sight in front of me.

Kakashi and Gaara were on the floor, laughing together as Gaara mimicked Temari's angry voice. Kakashi had his mask pulled down around his neck and his face was red with an alcohol blush.

"Gaara are you drunk?" I hissed.

"No drunk, I'm not mom." He hiccups, trying to get to his feet and falling over again to Kakashi's great amusement.

I glared at them, but it was Temari who began yelling again. She was in the middle of scolding Kakashi like he was a disobedient little boy when Kankuro made it onto the scene.

"Would you two shut the hell up?" Our little-big brother hissed from the doorway of his bedroom. "Leave them alone, they would have passed out by now if you two weren't out here chirping at them."

My sister and I both turned to glare at him, causing him to duck his head back into his room and slam the door.

"Right." I growled a little. "Let's get Gaara to bed."

"Your boyfriend did this, you can stay up with Gaara." Temari nodded curtly, helping me get our baby brother to his feet.

"I wanna come to bed." Kakashi slurred, getting himself up off the floor.

"You can sleep on the couch." I said flatly before helping Temari get Gaara down the hallway to my bedroom.

Gaara let something between a hiccup and a burp escape his mouth before mumbling "I don't feel so good."

"Perfect." I sighed as Temari and I got Gaara into my bed and pulled off his shoes and the Kazekage cloak.

"Sleep tight." She nodded, before leaving me stranded there.

I rolled my eyes, grabbing a garbage can and a towel and setting Gaara up so he would hopefully find them if he needed them.

"Where's Kakashi?" He slurred as I tucked him into my bed.

"In the dog house."

He laughed, and then threw up.

When I felt he'd emptied his stomach I got him a cold glass of water, and took the can to the bathroom to clean it out before returning it to him just in case.

I climbed into my bed, and Gaara snuggled up against me like a small child before slurring out "I love you, Kai."

As cute as it was, I almost gagged. "Gaara your breath smells like dead things."

"That's why you're my favourite." He bubbled, burping almost directly into my face.


	35. Family.

  
  
  
  
  


A series of painful groans woke me up the next morning, and then the wretched smell of bile and stale alcohol as Gaara's hot breath hit my face.

"Ugh." I huffed as I pushed his face away.

"My head hurts." He wined, bringing his hands up to emphasize the point.

I sat up, peeling back the too warm covers and escaping the clutches of my baby brother "You deserve it."

"Why am I in your room?" His whiney voice was only seeming to get worse.

"I didn't want you to choke on your own vomit or go wandering off."

He groaned again, making himself comfortable and trying to go back to sleep.

"Oh no you don't!" I grabbed my blankets and gave them a quick tug, spilling Gaara out onto the floor. "If you're going to drink like a man, you're going to get up and be responsible like a man too."

"Kai-reeeeee" He whined extending my name.

"No, go shower before I dump some ice water on your head." I ordered. "I need to go wake up your partner in crime."

When I didn't find Kakashi in the den where I'd left him, I wandered into the kitchen where I found Temari perched at the table with a coffee, smiling for once.

Kakashi was behind her, busying himself at the stove as the smell of breakfast filled the room.

"Good morning beautiful." He smiled under his mask without the hint of the miserable hangover that Gaara had.

I was slightly disappointed, quietly wishing he was in as much pain as my baby brother this morning. When I said nothing he came over to try and kiss my forehead, which I leaned away from.

"I think that your boyfriend thinks he can get back into our good graces." Temari said lightly as she took a bite from the food he sat down in front of her. "It might be working.."

I glared at her, staying silent as I sat down.

"Don't let them bully you." Kro told Kakashi as he padded into the room, messy hair and clothes saying he was fresh out of bed. "I just wish you guys had invited me."

Kakashi placed plates of food in front of Kankuro and I, and then sat down with his own across from me. "Wasn't my idea, how is Kazekage?"

"Miserable." I stated, and then inquired with a bit more attitude than I meant to give "It wasn't your idea and yet you encouraged it?"

He eyed me.

"Would you be so careless with Naruto?" I raised an eyebrow.

Kakashi sighed, leveling his voice to a tone that was more appropriate to bickering with my siblings as an audience. "I was not about to deny an offering from the Kazekage."

"Good thing too." Gaara's voice joined the discussion as he lazily slumped into the kitchen, his hair still dripping. "I might have gotten angry."

He said the last part as though we were all still afraid of him.

"I've made you some soup, Gaara." Kakashi said, getting up to spoon a bowl out for him. "It has Sake in it, hair of the dog that bit you."

Temari and I glared at them.

"Knock it off." Kro shot, staring at both of us. "He's the freaking Kazekage, he's got all of the responsibility and stress of a man, let the man drink once in a while."

That pretty much ended the arguments, neither of us could handle Kankuro's guilt trip.

"Well, now that you're home, we should spend the day together as a family." Temari said finally, finishing up her plate.

"Let's go to the oasis." Kro suggested, seeming pleased that he'd gotten us to focus on something other than Gaara.

"The bar?" Gaara asked, looking like he may get sick again at the thought.

"No, you alcoholic. The actual Oasis." Kankuro rolled his eyes.

Gaara flung a spoonful of soup at him, but Kakashi reacted quickly, holding up a plate to catch the splatter. "Weren't we just attempting to convince your sisters that you're a man now?"

"The Oasis is boring anyways." Temari huffed. "We always go there."

"This whole village is boring." Kro agreed, shrugging slightly.

"We could go see Grandfather Ebizo." I tried to suggest lightly, tho the silent reaction of the table told me it wasn't so lightly.

"I've visited him recently." Gaara smiled, shrugging. "He isn't in a mind for visitors."

In other words, he didn't know the secret to the jutsu. That was disappointing, with all of the letters we'd been sending back and forth it seemed that neither of us had gotten close to finding it.

"I have an idea." A deep voice came from the door that made me grin. "Come with me to the training grounds, and we will put my new group to the test."

"Baki!" I shot up from my seat, running to hug my father figure.

"Now that sounds like fun." Kankuro grinned.

Baki grinned as he hugged me, more tenderly than he had in awhile. "I missed ya kid."

Kakashi stood, and requested to speak with Baki in private. They proceeded outside with Gaara as the rest of us went to get dressed.

I dressed into a cool, light outfit that would be comfortable for fighting, and added one of Temari's black kimono over top. I was happy she didn't mind sharing clothes with me, with how much we were apart it made me feel closer. I then separated my hair into two, long ponytails that hung over my shoulders.

Temari seemed to have the same idea as me, while Kankuro was in his usual outfit, his puppets strapped to his back good as new.

"Aren't you going to be too warm?" I asked him as we met the others outside.

He answered but I wasn't paying attention. Gaara, Kakashi and Baki were all smiling at me in a way I would almost deem creepy.

"Uh, ready to go, weirdos?" Temari asked.

Baki's students were impressive, holding their own against us in one to one combat. It wasn't a surprise we over powered them, but Baki had asked us not to hold back.

He seemed so intent on testing them, that he teamed us up. Five against five was the next fight and I felt bad for them. They weren't used to fighting as a unit, I could tell by the way they tried to single us out as though we would let them fight one to one again.

Gaara and I mixed our jutsus together, sand and minerals, his superior technique with the might and strength of my denser attack. Temari gathered them together against the wall we created with her wind attacks, and when the strongest broke free, Kankuro grabbed him with his Sanshouo puppet.

I was sad to see how easily they broke apart from their team, they may have had a chance if they had stuck together and combined their talents, but with a nod to Kakashi, and a lightning jutsu that traveled through the minerals they were incapacitated and the fight was over.

"That will teach them," Baki grinned, clapping his hands. "they need to move and work as a unit, thank you."

I bowed my head to him as a medical team made their way into the fighting pit.

"Speaking of teams, you and Kakashi would make a great one." Baki continued, with that creepy smile again. "You should work on that combined Jutsu more."

I didn't answer him, I was too busy gazing over at the silver haired shinobi in question. The youngest of Baki's fighters had been wounded pretty badly, and Kakashi was helping him up, commending him on still being able to stand.

The pride in his eyes, and the way he ruffled his hair made me smile and I suddenly pictured the boy as our own, with my mother's indigo eyes, and Kakashi's silver hair. My heart fluttered the way it did when ever Kakashi kissed me, and I found myself longing for a family with him.


	36. The Question.

  
  
  
  


I'd decided to take a nap after the fight, Gaara had Kage duties to see to, Baki had his business in the hidden grounds and Kakashi had stolen Temari and Kankuro away for lunch. Somewhere between pouting over not being invited and going through one of Granny Chiyo's journals Gaara had gotten for me I'd fallen asleep.

A nap may have been an understatement, considering it was pitch dark when I woke up. I'd been dreaming of a crow, and when the feeling of being watched spurred goosebumps over my skin I quickly shot up.

"Sorry if I scared you." Kakashi's voice came from my bedroom doorway and quieted my fear.

"I thought it was Itachi." I mumbled, wiping sleep from my eyes.

"Why would you think that?"

I shrugged, turning on the light by my bed. "Paranoid I guess, come hold me?"

He was hesitant, and when he stepped into the light I could see why. Kakashi was sporting a dark circle of bruising around his natural eye. "Kankuro punched me." He explained when he saw my worried expression.

"He what!?!" I hissed, making to get out of bed and go kick his ass.

Kakashi grabbed me by the waist and pulled me back down so that I was sitting on his lap. "I'm fine, I let him."

As if that made it better.

"Why did you let my brother punch you?!"

He shrugged, pulling his mask down so that he could trail kisses along my jaw. "He didn't like what I had to ask him at first."

Momentarily distracted, I made a soft "mhm" sound that I hoped would convey my curiosity.

"He was more agreeable after his initial reaction though." He spoke against my skin, gently rubbing my back as he held me.

"What did you ask him?" I raised an eyebrow, breaking the spell of his intoxicating kisses.

Kakashi sighed heavily, removing his hand from my knee so he could reach into his pocket. "I've run through a million scenarios of how to do this in my head." His voice was starting to shake as if he was nervous, which made me nervous.

"I'm not sure if this is the best way, but I feel like it's the way you would appreciate the most." He continued as he pulled a small, worn white box and held it where I could see it. "Kairi, would you do me the honour of being my wife?"

With a gesture so expertly subtle I knew it was practiced, he popped the box open with his thumb. Inside, sitting on a small pillow was a modest golden ring, topped with a lotus that held in its center a diamond.

I let go of the breath I'd been holding in, taking the ring from the box and leaning back against Kakashi as I examined it in my hands.

"I know it's not as nice as the ones you can get nowadays... But it was my mother's." He explained nervously, reminding me that I hadn't answered him.

I slipped the ring onto my finger, amazed at how well it fit and turned my face to his so he could see the tears glistening on my cheeks. "Kakashi..." I whispered, trying not to choke on my own words. "It's beautiful, yes, of course!"

He kissed me deeply, dropping the box on my bed so he could take my hand. He played with the ring around my finger, and then pulled away to press his forehead to my own. "I was afraid you were going to say no."

I was stunned, wondering how this idiot could think I would have said no to him. "Baka" I whispered, kissing him again. "This is why Kankuro punched you?"

He laughed, shaking his head a bit. "I think he'd been wanting to do it since the first time he met me."

I grinned, unable to help the warmth I felt knowing that Kro was so protective of me.

"I want to do it here." He changed the subject, disguising his slightly damaged ego. "That's why I told Jiraiya to meet us here when he's done in Ame."

"He was going back to Ame?" I asked, and then went back to the subject at hand. "You invited him to a wedding when you didn't even know if I would say yes?"

"I uh.. I invited all of them." He said slowly. "On the chance you did say yes, I wanted to be ready so I could give you my last name before you changed your mind."

"Kairi Hatake.." I tried it out, liking the way it sounded.

"Me too." He kissed my forehead again, responding to my unspoken thoughts. "I love you."

"I love you too." I beamed, looking at the ring again, still slightly afraid I was dreaming.

"Does this mean I am out of the dog house?" He asked with a laugh.

"Baka." I repeated, kissing him as I pushed him down into my bed and cuddled up beside him.

He laid beside me, brushing hair out of my face and staring at me as if he were seeing gold for the first time. The stupid grin on his face made me blush, I couldn't help but kiss him.

He laced his fingers with mine and kissed me back, gently at first but then in that thirsty, heavy way he had. We may not have done things the traditional way, but when I was with him my heart felt full and I forgot about the scars of my past. I couldn't imagine being without him, or with anyone else. The ceremony may make it official, but I felt like I had been his since the day a useless little girl met a cruel boy on a desert rooftop so many years ago.

"I think we should practice for our wedding night." He whispered defiantly.

I raised a cocky eyebrow and snickered "I don't think you need practice."

He laughed a blushed a little, pulling the blankets up over our heads as he growled. "Come here, Mrs Hatake."


	37. Hide Your Horns.

  
  


It was barely a week before everyone invited had arrived. Gaara had put them all up in houses reserved for visiting delegates, and we had all gone out for dinner the night before. Tsunade was here with Shizune and Iruka, Gai, Asuma, and Kurenai had brought their teams. Team Kakashi had come with their interim captain, even the feudal Lord had come to the village to celebrate. As the daughter and sister of Kazekages, it was his honour to be present at my wedding day.

The only one missing was Jiraya. In our travels he and I had grown close, once you got past his quirks, he was like a grandfather to me. I'd missed him in the month or so since we had parted, and I was sad that he hadn't arrived yet. Kakashi assured me he'd show up eventually after he explained he'd caught a lead about the Akatsuki being in Amegakure, which was why he'd gone back to that rain drenched city.

I wrung my hands slightly, my nerves showing as I grew impatient with how long Temari was taking to do my makeup.

"I thought we would be married before Kakashi." Kurenai said as she fussed over my hair. "I am so pleased for you though, and you have inspired Asuma to speed up the process."

I giggled a little "How are you going to hide a wedding?"

She glared at me playfully in the mirror, smoothing out a bit of my hair that wouldn't cooperate. "By killing everyone who knows about it."

"That's a good strategy." Temari laughed. "Kairi stop talking so I can do your lips."

Once the hair and makeup were done, my sister brought out a trunk I'd seen a lot in my mother and father's room. I gazed at it curiously as she opened it to reveal a white kimono with very subtle flower details and a blue sash.

"Temari... It is beautiful." I gasped as I reached out to touch its sleek fabric.

"It was hers." She smiled, lifting it out and getting it ready for me to put on. "I told you that I had your dress covered."

I gave her an apologetic smile, I'd been hounding her all week about it. The amount of people that would be showing up had made me nervous beyond belief.

I'd just about lost it at the council when they came complaining that we didn't request their permission for the wedding. That's when Gaara stepped in, explaining that we didn't need it because they had already signed off on it all those years ago when my father had tried to arrange the marriage.

My sympathy for my sister all but died when she withdrew the Tsunokakushi though. I glared at it with disdain, as gorgeous as it was.

"No."

"It goes with the dress." She protested.

"And it will hide those nasty, pointy horns of yours." Kurenai giggled.

I rolled my eyes, defiant as ever. "I will not wear it. He can either marry me with horns and all, or he can walk away."

My sister rolled her eyes, but put it away nonetheless.

When I was dressed, and properly fussed over by Temari and Kurenai, Baki met us at the door, taking my arm in his as he smiled so proudly. "You are beautiful." He whispered as he led me up the steps that lead to the cliff tops over the entrance of the village.

"Then why do I feel like I'm going to war?" I asked in the softest voice I could manage.

He smiled sympathetically and patted my arm. "Marriage is scarier than war, there aren't many times that it's worth it."

He caught me staring at him, wide, worried eyes and flashed the awkward Baki smile, tears beginning to form in the corners of his eyes.. "This is one of those rare times, Kakashi Hatake was meant for you."

I swear he'd been crying since I asked him to give me away, now he was a bit of a blubbering mess which was hilarious on such a strong, hardened man.

Two people in the crowd caught my eye as we passed. They were standing in the back, no doubt attempting not to be noticed in their plain black cloaks and douli. The eyes were what sparked my attention though, a pair of sharingan, and the other pair black as night. I shuddered softly but defiantly turned towards my future, unwilling to let them taint this day.

My eyes found him quickly, and a smile spread across my face that washed away the unease.

Kakashi looked beyond words in his own black Kimono, fading to grey near his legs with his family symbol embroidered in blue, brought out by the sash around his waist that matched my own. His face was covered by his mask, but I could see he was grinning as he made a small gesture of horns with his fingers towards me that made our guests laugh.

I knew I should warn him, or raise an alarm about the intrusion but my gut was telling me that our uninvited guests meant no harm. Besides, there was some personal gratification in knowing Itachi would see me make my vow to Kakashi. Maybe then he would quit visiting me, quit invading my mind.

Gaara was officiating, wearing a ceremonial version of his already formal hokage robes. He looked so handsome, and so much older.

"Kairi Kazekage" Kakashi began as Baki handed me off to him. He seemed so calm, staring at me with those heavy lidded eyes while I felt like I might burst with nervous excitement. "I suppose our lives have always been intertwined."

He brushed back a hair that had come loose from the complex style Kurenai had forced it into and kissed my forehead softly with his masked lips.

"Two kids fighting on a rooftop sure came a long way huh?" He said so casually that I couldn't help but giggle.

I don't know what I was expecting him to say, but it was somehow perfect. From that rooftop in sunagakure, to chasing me through the rooftops of konohagakure, finding me broken and defeated in a forest, guarding me when I was thought a spy, sneaking me out on a mission, our losses, those few happy moments and stolen kisses.

Kakashi lowered his voice, speaking only to me now. "You don't know the ways in which you have saved my life."

I tilted my head slightly, hadn't it been him saving me over and over again?

"My vow is to protect you, to love you, to be a good husband, and to never stop repaying you for saving me." He finished, taking my hand and placing his mother's ring back on my finger before kissing it softly. "Always."

I wasn't sure if I could speak, choked up with emotion as I was. Gaara had to clear his throat a few times, and it wasn't until Kakashi laughed a little that I found my voice again.

"My vow is to honour you as a husband, to be a good wife, a good teammate, to love and obey you, and to never forget how you saved me."

I took the small band I had made for him by pressing iron and gold together and nervously fumbled as I tried to place it on his finger. I had my father's ring, he'd taken it off after mother died and kept the pair in a box in his room. I was always meant to give it to my husband, but it was a ring for a Kazekage, and it now belonged to Gaara.

"On this day," Gaara spoke out now, his voice steady and official even though he broke from the traditional speech. "We are gathered as family, to witness not just a marriage of two people, but of two nations, two villages. I have a vow to make today as well, and that is the unending protection of my family and village extended to Konohagakure."

Tsunade actually jumped up and gave a whoop before saying. "Right back at cha sandman!"

It was pretty obvious she'd already been into the wine stores and offering carafes.

Kakashi pulled down his mask - in front of his stunned students and village neighbors - to kiss me without Gaara telling him to. I kissed him back either way, doing everything I could not to jump on him.

"Never lose your horns." He whispered, tapping my exposed temple.

I gave him what I hoped would be an evil smile and his laugh told me it wasn't as menacing as I thought.

We made our offerings to Kami and the Sage of the six paths. I lingered a moment, praying to them for a swift end to the Akatsuki, for Naruto's safety, and for a long and happy life for Kakashi.

After the ceremony, both villages descended into drunken laughter and dancing. I didn't see any sign of Hex or Itachi for the rest of the night, and took it as a good sign from my prayers.

"Kairi Hatake." Kakashi mused softly, playing with the single strand of my hair that wouldn't cooperate.

"You're drunk again." I raised my eyebrow, trying to look displeased before I took another shot of the Sake Tsunade was passing out.

"You better catch up." He laughed, refilling my cup.

Kairi Hatake, it sounded perfect to me.

  
  



End file.
